Labyrinth: The Secret Door
by WTalespinner
Summary: 20 years have passed since Sarah rescued Toby from the Goblin King, and she has become a librarian in her hometown. Courtly intrigue among the Fae result in Sarah's return to the Underground, and another inevitable confrontation with Jareth at the end of a brand new labyrinth. But what is the nature of a secret door she is tasked to find?
1. Chapter 1: A Champion's Lament

**I: A Champion's Lament**

Her name is Sarah Williams, and it has been 20 years since the incident in which a young infant child she was looking after…her half-brother, Toby Williams…disappeared while in her care. Her own consciousness was then subject to an amazing adventure in which the aspiring actress sought to free Toby from the devilishly handsome man who kidnapped him…Jareth…who made a bargain with the teenager: successfully navigate Jareth's labyrinth within thirteen hours, or Jareth will do more than just keep the boy. He was to add the child to his menagerie of goblins, which were the small, horrible-looking faerie creatures who called Jareth their King.

Although Sarah had effectively undone the impulsive proclamation she had uttered that led to Toby's kidnapping through her becoming champion of the labyrinth, the weight of having literally wished the goblins to take Toby away seemed to gradually increase over the years, with all the ominousness of storm clouds creeping over the horizon.

As much as Sarah attempted to move on and perhaps realize her initial thespian ambitions, her post-labyrinth dabblings in theatrical endeavors left her strangely unfulfilled, perhaps as a consequence of being considered a champion in the magical world she had tried to put behind her.

His name is Steven T. Graves, and he is Sarah's current therapist. Although Sarah's father and stepmother initially suggested that Sarah be subjected to therapy sessions, they had gone through a great many therapists prior to Sarah finding Steven. By the time Sarah did find Steven, it was on Sarah's own initiative rather than at the prodding of her guardians, and she had found employment as a librarian by this time.

Those other therapists were fine for the first couple of months or so, but when Sarah's musings went in the direction of her experiences in the labyrinth, that was when she realized…by their reaction…that they just weren't the right people to vent her experiences to for the fact that, well, they just wouldn't understand. One of them seemed like 'the one', though, for the fact that she had her child kidnapped, but she had gone into less detail about this occurrence, making it seem like more of an inroad to her apparent want to convert Sarah to her religion, which more or less ended their sessions permanently after a mere two weeks.

Graves, however, despite his being a couple of years younger than Sarah, seemed entirely different, and when it got to the point where she had no choice but to share her experiences of dealing with Jareth, Hoggle, and all the friends and enemies she had made during her adventure, Graves made no attempt to steer Sarah out of it. He simply listened to every word she said. He was a good receptor. He never interrupted the young woman and always encouraged her to share these experiences in as much detail as possible, regardless of how crazy it might sound.

This night, however, it came to a question from Steven…practically out of the blue…that forced Sarah to stop her stream-of-labyrinthine-consciousness and go silent.

"Do you miss him?"

The five minutes that followed seemed like an eternity as Sarah wrestled for an answer to that question. She had already mentioned Jareth, so she knew it was him Steven was referring to.

Sarah appreciated that Steven didn't rush Sarah's thinking, and she knew they had plenty of time in their session for her to think on this question.

"I…shouldn't be missing him, should I?" Sarah finally answered, turning her head to Steven after staring out the office window in her deep thought, staring at the falling snow adding to the 2-foot accumulation the overnight snowstorm had wrought four days ago. "Would it make me crazy to say that I do? After what he put me through?"

Steven smiled at that. "I'm a therapist, Sarah. Not a shrink. It's not my place to judge you over past decisions." Steven then leaned forward towards the couch where Sarah was sitting. "I'd rather hear about what _you _think. How _you _respond to these things."

Sarah sighed. "I think I'm crazy."

"Why?"

"Well…the whole thing was my fault to begin with, wasn't it?" Sarah noted. "Even if I did get Toby back. Twenty years since it happened. Toby's moved off to some new life somewhere, and I'm here playing librarian. Maybe I'll wind up an old maid, just like Mary Bailey if George had never been born. They can make a movie out of me, too…except they'll call it 'It's An Unusual Life'."

Steven chuckled. "I hardly consider your life unusual, Sarah. I can say that much."

"Why?" Sarah countered. "Here, I'm just Sarah Williams. But off where I once was, I'm the 'champion of the labyrinth'. I'm a hero, and I have friends there."

"And over here is empty by comparison." Steven then observed.

"Yes! Exactly that." Sarah confirmed.

"Which begs the question I just asked, Sarah." Steven paused in the writings on his long yellow notepad to look Sarah squarely in her eyes, temporarily removing his glasses. "Do you miss him?"

Sarah's gaze now angled downward to the carpeted floor. Another quiet minute passed before Sarah broke the silence.

"He showed me his world." Sarah quietly remarked. "How could I not miss him, in some way?"

"Despite what he did?"

"That was my fault." Sarah countered.

"Sarah…in our world, making the observation that led to Toby's kidnapping is no crime." Steven observed. "They're just words which, as you had said, were spoken in frustration. Don't condemn yourself over that."

"I'm sure Jareth is having a good laugh over what my life has become since I beat him." Sarah then mused aloud.

"Where do you think Jareth is now?" Steven asked, slipping his glasses back on. "Do you think _he _misses you?"

"I kinda doubt that." Sarah responded. "I think if I ever saw him again, he'd want to hurt me, as I had hurt him when I beat him. Make me his slave, perhaps. Obey his every whim." Sarah began to sound distant as her gaze returned to the window. "Peaches, Sarah. Nothing but peaches. Day in, day out. As my hand snakes through your hair. As I sit on my throne while you take your proper place at my feet beside me, where you belong. Behold, the champion of the labyrinth, who begged to come back to me without saying a single word…but I never forgot what I heard from your lips in our last meeting. Well, Sarah Williams…how sweet the irony, that I finally have power over you. Sweet as…peaches."

The silence that followed lasted two minutes, with Sarah continuing to stare out the window. Staring at the trees, and expecting to spot an owl somewhere upon the branches, staring back at her, for such was a form Jareth frequently used to eavesdrop on the champion of his labyrinth.

But the trees were bare. No birds. Just the snow that had collected upon them.

"Let's assume that I have placed a fresh peach in your hand, Sarah." Steven then remarked. "What would you do?"

Sarah slowly smiled, her gaze back on Steven. "Probably this."

She then gave Steven the finger.

"No offense intended." Sarah confessed as she lowered her hand, seeing Steven's eyebrow arch in response.

"None taken." Steven assured, smiling back. "I actually expected that you would crush it."

Sarah then giggled. "Not with _my _butter-muscles."

"But if you _could _crush it?"

Sarah now sighed, her gaze back on the carpet. "I wouldn't."

"Because…he _knows _you wouldn't?" Steven then mused.

Sarah looked back up to her therapist. "Damn, you're good."

Steven smiled at this. "And you won't wind up an old maid, Sarah. Not if you don't want to be."

Sarah kept her eyes on Steven. "That means going back."

"To him?"

Sarah hung her head down now, sighing. This was starting to frustrate her. "You suck."

"I thought you said I was good."

"Oh yeah, you are. It's just…" She tried to wave off her frustration, but it was too late. She lifted her head back up to rub at her eyes. "…you're fine. Don't mind me."

Steven smiled, continuing to scratch his pen on his long yellow pad. "Sarah…you don't think that your lingering belief in this…'underground'…has been a problem for you, do you?"

Sarah shook her head. "If anything, it's helped me. At least, when I'm reading stories to the children who come to the library. I mean…you have the average person who just reads the book out loud. I think a story becomes much more interesting to hear if you have someone reading it who has some belief in it."

"As you do."

Sarah nodded, smiling. "Not to brag, but I have my own little fanbase at the Library."

Steven leaned in towards Sarah now. "Sarah…I remember last week, when we talked about your experiences in the labyrinth, you were reciting from a story prior to Toby's kidnapping. Can you remember what that story was called?"

Sarah glanced down thoughtfully. "The Labyrinth."

"Have you thought about sharing that story with your…fanbase?" Steven asked. "Or perhaps, having it performed…"

"No." Sarah cut in, her voice firm.

Steven nodded in response, but followed up with the inevitable counter. "Why?"

"Because I…"

Sarah seemed to be struggling with a way she could explain her reluctance. The truth of the matter was that she didn't want to spread any notion that Jareth even existed. If he was going to be anyone's problem, she wanted it to be her problem alone.

"Because…you don't want what happened to you, to happen to anyone else?" Steven guessed. "You don't want anyone else to have to deal with the Goblin King, as you did?"

A long moment passed before Sarah finally answered. "More or less."

Steven nodded, glancing at the clock close to the ceiling of the room. He then rose up, placing the yellow pad face down upon his seat. "We'll have to leave it at this for now."

Sarah rose and stretched out. "To be continued, eh?"

Steven nodded, smiling. "I did have one more question, though…but it can wait."

Sarah frowned curiously. "Shoot."

Steven seemed, for a moment, to figure out a way to pose the question before asking it. "Whatever happened to that book? I can imagine what it could fetch on…ebay?"

"What, the Labyrinth book?" Sarah asked, to which Steven nodded in confirmation. "Oh, I dunno…probably still in a box of stuff I haven't unpacked yet. I wouldn't sell that book off, though."

"Would you be willing to tell me why when we meet next week?" Steven asked, quirking a brow.

Sarah seemed hesitant to answer this. "I'll think about it."

Steven nodded. "Until next week, then, Sarah. Drive safe. It's a bit icy out there."

Sarah covered up in her winter coat. "Oh, I'll manage. I'm the Champion of the Labyrinth, after all, right?"

"Of course. Oh, and Sarah…always remember this."

Sarah turned back to Steven curiously as she opened the door to the outer hall.

"He has no power over you."

Sarah smiled. "I know. Good night, Steven…and thanks." She then made her way towards the elevator, leaving Steven to shut the door behind him.

The elevator was quick to arrive, and when she stepped in, she found herself lost in thought and reminiscence. She was the only one in the elevator as well…

…although she did, at that moment, get the impression she was being watched. She thought about what she had said during the session. That the Goblin King was watching her every move. That he must be laughing over the kind of person she had become following her victory over his labyrinth. Alone, and empty, living a life in a world that was nowhere near as fascinating and as perilous as Jareth's.

It wasn't until she had gotten into her car that she opened the long-strapped purse she had picked up for herself at a Renaissance Faire, and pulled a small red book from it. Upon its cover, wrought in gold writing, was the name of the text.

"The Labyrinth".

She gazed at it thoughtfully for another quiet minute before slipping it back in her purse and then firing up the engine of her car, carefully rolling it out of her parking space and steering it out onto her side of the road.

Steven stepped back towards the yellow pad, picking it up to look upon the amazingly photorealistic rendering he had been drawing during the session. There were no written notes anywhere upon the pad's surface. Just the single, full-head picture he had been working on as he listened to every word the young woman had said.

A young woman whose exact facial likeness dominated the front page of the yellow pad.


	2. Chapter 2: She Had To Ask

"Give me the child."

Giggles all around. But the long-haired young woman looked serious as she gazed upon the Goblin King with a determined stare, her bravery answered only with a smirk.

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen…"

More giggles. The expression on Jareth's face did not change. His right hand merely stroked his prize with a gloved hand.

"…for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great…"

Titters. Giggles. Jareth mocked an expression of horror.

And then, the young woman pulled off the black wig she had been wearing, revealing a full head of luxurious blond hair, through which a pair of pointed ears could be seen poking out. She then smirked and wagged a long, slender finger at the Goblin King.

"…you have been a very naughty boy!" The Lady Vestrie then chided, a smirk on her face.

"I agree!" Jareth then picked up the plush toy doll he had been stroking and scowled upon it as the titters around him increased. "Away with thee, Toby, you naughty boy!"

He then tossed the plush toy to a group of tittering goblins, who now joined their King in mocking laughter as Vestrie, who was also laughing, altered her semblance of the outfit Sarah Williams had worn during her quest to rescue Toby, changing it into a beautiful gold-lined white gown. She then leaped into the arms of the Goblin King.

"Honestly…how could you _ever_ let a mere human get the best of you?" Vestrie asked, pulling a green grape from a nearby plate of fruits and hovering it in front of Jareth's mouth.

"Beginner's luck." Jareth responded, angling his head forward to bite upon the grape as Vestrie released it.

"And have you ever wondered what happened to the so-called 'champion of the labyrinth'?" Vestrie inquired.

Jareth shook his head as he chewed upon the grape, and then swallowed it. "Old news. She won her little brat fair and square. I'd rather just leave her be."

"And pretend it never happened." Vestrie mused aloud.

Jareth then fixed his eyes on Vestrie's. "Why do you ask? Is that a twinge of jealousy in your velvety voice, dear?"

"Put yourself in my place, Jareth." Vestrie noted. "A Seelie Princess falls in love with an Unseelie Goblin King, forcing us to sneak around behind the backs of the Courts and have a little adventure or two in so doing. My father gets suspicious, we have to temporarily stay away from each other for awhile. What does the lonely Goblin King do with his time? He toys with a snippy mortal's contempt for her baby brother, and she becomes champion of your little labyrinth."

Jareth shrugged. "I thought Toby would make a good goblin."

"And yet, you were feeling so heartbroken when she left you." Vestrie continued. "Very unusual behavior for an unseelie. Have you so suddenly forgotten the meaning of the word…_revenge?_"

"I have no need for revenge." Jareth responded. "Last I have seen, her mortal life has become rather decrepit. She is an empty shell without me."

"Shall we have a look?" Vestrie suggested, gesturing to the curtained entrance to an adjoining chamber in Jareth's Throne Room.

Jareth sighed. "If I show you how she has been faring, you have to promise me that you'll never waste my time with this jealousy rubbish. Agreed?"

Vestrie smirked. "Only if I like what I see."

Vestrie then emerged from Jareth's lap and onto her slippered feet, pulling Jareth up from his throne, and the two tall, slim faerie humanoids moved into the adjoining room, Jareth pushing aside the crimson-colored curtain for Vestrie to pass through. They then walked through a narrowed path, the way flanked by a number of items, trinkets, and articles of magic and mischief resting idly next to one another. On the far wall was yet another curtain, this one silken in appearance, with arcane sigils upon the deep purple tapestries and a golden cord hanging down on one side.

One of Jareth's pale hands grabbed the golden cord. "Show me Sarah Williams." He calmly intoned. Jareth would then mentally indicate what stages of Sarah's life would be revealed, and he then pulled the cord, parting the curtain into two halves, the smooth wall behind it glowing a soft white before forming a mesh of blurred colors. This blurred mesh gradually achieved sharpness and full clarity, and the face of Sarah Williams could be seen upon the wall at last.

Vestrie smiled at what she saw. A lonely librarian who occasionally entertained groups of visiting schoolchildren with the readings of stories, most of them of the fairytale variety. It was apparently the only occasions when this mortal was happy, for many of the other visions were that of the lonely woman Sarah had become since becoming the champion of the labyrinth.

The Seelie noblewoman spied a glance at Jareth, and confirmed her suspicions by noticing a kind of longing in his gaze as the images continued to play…

…but then, his brows furrowed, and he stepped close to the wall.

Vestrie saw that the images of Sarah's life included her visits to the therapists she went through. She had giggled when she saw Sarah's dissatisfaction with nearly all of them, and there were spats with her father over how useless they were, which also entertained Vestrie.

It was her present therapist, however, that seemed to trouble Jareth. Stepping up close to the wall, she could see why as the images of their sessions replayed in a perpetual loop.

Neither she nor Jareth could clearly see this therapist's face.

"You haven't seen this before?" Vestrie curiously inquired.

The images of her visits with this therapist cycled through once more, and Jareth quietly observed them.

"No." He finally admitted. He then pulled the gold cord and the tapestries swallowed the image whole. He then walked right past Vestrie with hurried steps and headed for the crimson curtain, whipping them aside when he reached them, Vestrie following his loud steps curiously.

Jareth leapt back into his throne, his face clearly looking troubled, and deep in thought as Vestrie stepped up to him once more.

The Seelie noblewoman arched an eyebrow, noting Jareth's complete silence. "Are we feeling a bit…vexed?"

Jareth's eyes, looking away in thought, now turned back to Vestrie. "My business with Sarah is none of yours. You may go."

Vestrie's eyebrows now both raised in surprise. "Oh! Just like that, eh?"

Jareth now glared at the golden-haired faerie. "When I want to talk about boring Courtly intrigue, or stealing powerful artifacts from your father as we had done in the past, I will call for you."

"Jareth…what is it?" Vestrie inquired. "Talk to me."

"Leave. Me. Alone." Jareth calmly intoned. "For now."

Vestrie sighed, looking hurt. "That's the last time I bring up any of your mortal curiosities around you…" She muttered as she moved toward the throne room's exit.

Jareth's goblin charges had hidden in fear of their liege when he hurried back into the throne room in his troubled state, and they peered out curiously from behind various objects after Vestrie had left. Their twisted, ugly bodies quivered with fright as they peered upon their King.

Jareth then turned his gaze upon the plate of idle fruit offerings Vestrie had brought for her social call, which he had imagined would lead to yet another exchange of passionate lust. It was Vestrie, of course, who had brought up the matter of his loss to Sarah Williams, who had become a veritable afterthought to him in the wake of her leaving.

At least, until now.

He knew that the Tapestry of Mortal Souls would reveal the lives of any in the aboveground he knew by name. He knew their lives would play before him in full crystal clarity. Any portion of their lives could be scryed. Even portions of their futures could be revealed to him, which was how the Goblin King was able to plant the goblin thieves in Toby's room in advance of Sarah's wish for these goblins to take him away.

It was her current therapist that perplexed him, though. If this therapist were mortal, his visage would also be clear and identifiable.

But the blur on his face somehow indicated that he was not.

Jareth's eyes locked onto a single piece of fruit on the silver platter…

…and he leaned forward to grab and gaze upon the peach thoughtfully as he settled back into his throne.

"You shouldn't mess with me." He then spoke, slowly, upon the peach. "I'll ruin _everything_ you are."


	3. Chapter 3: Dangers Untold

It was called the Golden Lane, and it ran through a field within which a beautiful arrangement of various flowers and perfectly-trimmed brushes could be seen. The skies above were always clear, with just enough patches of white clouds to decorate the dreamlike visage high above, and the sun always shone bright and beautifully upon the area. The lane itself was of pure white alabaster, with gold railings on either side of it. On one end of the lane was a large building lined with white marble columns, and this building was entirely wrought with unblemished white alabaster as well. The Golden Lane stretched deep into the Seelie lands ahead, where other pleasantly-designed structures added to the seemingly impossible paradise that embodied the benevolent nature of the Seelie Court as a whole.

A few feet away from the building stood a single, slender figure clad in white robes, gazing out onto the floral arrangements flanking the Lane, leaning against the waist-high railing. His ears, like the others of his Sidhe kin, pointed straight upwards. As per his station as a High Chamberlain of the Seelie Court, his head was bare and bald.

Another individual, clad in red and white robes of a somewhat regal nature, hurried up to the Chamberlain, his long brown hair streaming behind him. This one's face, while as handsome as the rest of the Sidhe, looked a bit less gentle in nature.

The Chamberlain's peripheral vision caught sight of this person, and watched him close in, sighing with mild annoyance. Obviously, this was not the first time this particular individual was coming to him with some form of gripe.

"This is growing tiresome, Prince Angaron." The Chamberlain calmly admitted.

"Need we go over this again, High Chamberlain?" Angaron remarked. "I shall not rest until justice is served."

"And I told you last time. You need _proof _of your claims." The Chamberlain countered. "We are well aware of the theft of your precious crystal globes, and…Vanity, of course…but every lead you have given us has gotten us nowhere."

"We could compel the little wretch to come forward and confess, though." Angaron then offered. "I might actually be able to arrange that this time."

The Chamberlain arched a brow. "Jareth? Good luck with that. You know he has never once emerged from his City, and we would never once entertain the notion of going to him. His domain is far too distasteful."

"Yes, yes, I know." Angaron waved his hands in dismissal of the excuses. "You always turn down my requests to send in agents of the Iron Shadow as well."

The Chamberlain now turned angrily to the Prince. "Which you should _not _be speaking of so openly!"

Angaron blinked, but was otherwise unaffected by the Chamberlain's warning. "I do beg your pardon for the social trespass of our Court's dirty little secret, Chamberlain, but my stolen artifacts are quite significant in power. I fear they may have been exploited during that incident involving the mortal infant."

"Yes, the labyrinth thing." The Chamberlain confirmed. "So what manner of arrangement have you to waste my time with now?"

"Rumor has it that the meddler will be returning." Angaron then revealed. "Very soon, in fact. Jareth may try to lure her back in."

"Why?" The Chamberlain inquired, intrigued enough by this revelation to be curious.

Angaron was hesitant to answer. "I…haven't figured that out yet…but I wonder how the Seelie Court would feel if we were able to win over Jareth's charges somehow."

"The _goblins?_"The Chamberlain looked a bit disturbed by this notion. "What exactly are you implying?"

"The meddler once stood accused of a crime, yes?" Angaron asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes." The Chamberlain responded. "She willingly surrendered an infant child to the Goblin King, thereby endangering the child's very humanity."

"For one to be so callous and inconsiderate in nature towards the youngest of children demands a just punishment, don't you think?" Angaron noted.

"We have it on good authority that the child was rescued by this meddler you mention," The Chamberlain explained. "and in so doing has rightfully earned a fitting sobriquet. The Champion of the Labyrinth. Her exploits also cleared her of any wrongdoing, which makes me wonder where you are going with this."

"We can use her, Chamberlain." Angaron then suggested, his tone inescapably malevolent. "We can use her association with the Goblin King to expose him for the thief I believe him to be."

"And what does this have to do with 'winning over Jareth's charges'?" The Chamberlain asked, exasperated.

Angaron then smiled a most discomforting smile, pleasantly patting the Chamberlain's shoulder. "Why don't you let me worry about that, hm?" He then began to step away. "You will see me again soon, Chamberlain."

The Chamberlain allowed the Prince to walk out of sight, but Angaron had already laid down his somewhat confusing notions. Once Angaron was nothing more than a speck in the distance, the Chamberlain turned back towards the columned building nearby and moved up towards it.

Once he was within it, he turned to one of its more shadowy sections, gazing around to make sure he was entirely alone. He then spoke aloud.

"I realize this is early." He began, to no one in particular. "But I need your report right this moment."

From one of the columns in the shadows stepped a black-cloaked humanoid figure. The intimidating visage wore a hood, under which a white ceramic mask of a somewhat effeminate nature could be seen. The outer edge of the eyesockets had intricate purple eyeliner designs around the edges, and a single red tear was on each cheek. The mask's lips were the deep red color of blood. When this figure moved, it did not look like it was walking so much as it was floating, and when it reached the Chamberlain, it lowered itself to one knee in reverence before him.

The Chamberlain then added a second request, one which was in a language other than english. "Speak in tongues."


	4. Chap 4: Behold, I Have Come As A Thief

"Aunt Em had just come out of the house to water the cabbages when she looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her." Sarah recited, her latest choice of public read in her lap, and assuming a different voice for each character. "'My darling child!' she cried, folding the little girl in her arms and covering her face with kisses. 'Where in the world did you come from?' 'From the Land of Oz,' said Dorothy gravely. 'And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!'" She then closed the book, which of course was _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_, one of her personal favorites in her library of fairy tales.

A cheer went up from her regular crowd of kids visiting the library to hear Sarah read from the book, as she did every other weekend at the local Library. She had picked the lesser-known of author L. Frank Baum's children's books, such as _John Dough and the Cherub_, in recent readings, before she was resoundingly out-voted by the kids on her next choice of book. If she had won the vote, she would have read _The Sea Fairies_. But the kids wanted to hear the much-loved fairy tale about Dorothy Gale's very first adventure in Baum's magical fairyland called Oz.

Many of the kids were surprised at the differences between the story and the movie they were already familiar with, and even the Head Librarian seemed a little shocked at the surprisingly violent nature of the book compared to the movie.

Frumpy as the old woman always seems to be, she had to get a word in about it. "Miss Williams, I am _shocked _that you would speak of a Tin Woodman with a pure heart chopping the heads off of wolves!"

"Well, they _were _going to eat Dorothy, Miss Caine." Sarah noted.

"Or a Lion biting the head off of a spider?" Miss Caine then remarked. "Just to become King of the forest? The next time you consider telling such a story, I would think you should show them the movie instead! Hmph!" The old woman then handed Sarah a stack of books. A _big _stack of books. "You know the routine, Miss Williams."

But Sarah countered the Head Librarian's obviously-implied want to heap stress and misery with a pleasant smile, the younger librarian not even the least bit fazed. "Right away, Miss Caine."

As she began placing the returned books in their proper places, a child stepped over to her and gave her furry white sweater a tug. She turned her head to regard the child, pausing her work. She remembered this girl from the group she was telling the story to.

"I don't care _what_ Miss Caine says." The girl quietly remarked, smiling. "I thought the book was _better_ than the movie!"

Sarah gave the child a wink and a smile. "Me too." She then went back to work as the child ran back to her mother, who took the child's hand in her own and stepped out of the library's exit. Her mother was also among those who enjoyed the recitation of the story, and it was actually her suggestion for the child to tell Sarah of her appreciation before they left.

Sarah was always curious to glance at the covers of the books she was placing back where they were supposed to go. It made her wonder what was on the minds of most who frequented the library. Insight into the minds of the general public and what provoked their curiosity.

More often than not, she found herself making visits to the political portions of the library, although she did notice a copy of _John Dough and the Cherub _at one point in the pile, which she restored to its proper place in the Children's section with a smile on her face. Her nose then wrinkled when she found that two books from the _Twilight _series needed to be put back where they could be found by other curious young adult eyes.

Those books looked like they had been taken out several times, too, judging by the wear and tear.

Installments of the _Percy Jackson _and the _Harry Potter _series were then restored to their proper places and aisles. Copies of the first _Beautiful Creatures _story were similarly placed in their sections.

The rest of her pile were the kinds of books she wished the world could do without. Political conspiracy theories. It was enough that she was seeing her Facebook friends posting that kind of stuff hoping for followers to their causes. For a Library to carry further exploration into these apparent examinations just seemed to her like an invitation to banality.

But she was at least happy that those weren't the _only _books readers were interested in.

An hour before the end of her shift, she managed to return every book Miss Caine had handed her.

But when she returned to the grumpy old woman, who was checking out books for a line full of patrons and was now currently in the process of arguing with a customer about the validity of his library card, the Head Librarian pointed to yet another cart full of books that needed to be put back.

Sighing, she walked over to the cart…and found that these were books that had been pulled from the Children's section. Drat! She had wanted to spend her last hour glancing at _The Labyrinth _thoughtfully in a quiet portion of the Library. Her initial reaction to the cart was to blurt out '_that's not fair_', but her days of making such protests were far behind her.

Especially after her experiences in the labyrinth.

The Children's section…which was a room separate from the main Library…was empty of patrons at this point in the day, and she moved in to begin restoring each and every text on the cart to their proper places. She had her bag and her winter coat with her as she went in, since she would no doubt be leaving for home once she was done.

The problem, however, was that she was in the Children's section on a day when it was at its busiest, and there had been a rowdy bunch of kids in the room earlier while she was reading her story. Whole rows of books had been dislodged. It was quite a little mess.

And Sarah's first instinct, which she of course did not dare to speak aloud, was to wish that the goblins would take all the children who had made this fine mess away.

Right now.

Shaking her head, and smiling, she moved in to bring some order to the mess, sorting out the books as she brought them up, noticing that some of the books had a bit of damage to them. These, she separated, as per Miss Caine's instructions regarding damaged books in the library.

As she worked, however, she heard the sound of hard heels hitting the tiled floor as a well-dressed gentleman stepped into the section, slowly looking and browsing around. He looked to be in his mid-50s. She didn't find this odd, though. Occasionally, there were parents looking for books for their children.

Sarah checked her cell phone for the time. 15 minutes till closing.

"Looking for anything in particular, sir?" She craned her head up from a low section of books.

The man didn't respond. He just continued walking. No doubt a rude boor. She knew the type.

"We close in fifteen minutes, sir, so you might want to make it snappy." Sarah reminded.

She was only halfway through her books on the cart, so the rest would no doubt need to wait until she returned on Monday. The man's pace, however, did not pick up. He just continued to walk slowly through the sections.

Once again, she checked the time. Having confirmed, she called it out. "Five minutes, sir."

Two minutes later, a low, menacing voice that no doubt came from the gentleman in the room finally spoke.

"I have what I came for, Miss Williams."

Sarah's eyes widened, and she shot up from her crouch. Unfortunately, her gaze was directed away from the man, who was now soundlessly leaving in a hurry. Looking around the area, her eyes settled on where she had put her winter coat and her bag.

And the bag looked like it had been disturbed.

Sarah raced over and began checking through the bag. A thief? No…her money was still in her wallet, as were her credit cards and her checkbook. The car keys were still there, as were her house keys and even the pepper spray she stored in there.

But the other significant keepsake in the bag? That was what was wrong.

Her little red book, _The Labyrinth_,was now gone.

Rushing out to the front counter, where Miss Caine was in the process of bundling up in her smelly, aged furs for her trip back home, she slid to a halt in front of her, and the woman yelped loudly in surprise.

"Did you see a man come out of the Children's Section, Miss Caine?" Sarah asked, desperate for clues.

"Are you trying to give me a _heart attack_, Miss Williams?" Miss Caine growled. "I've been _too busy_ behind this desk, young lady! I don't keep track of who comes in and out of aisles, corners, or even the Children's Section! And you know very well that if he took a book from the library without first checking it out, he'd set off our alarm system!"

But before the cantankerous old hag could finish nattering her gripes, Sarah was already rushing out the door, her bag slung at her shoulder and her winter coat draped at her arm.

The man was completely gone.

Sarah sighed out a misty breath, and feeling the chill of the very cold air, pulled on her winter coat and walked slowly to her car, continuing to look around for the thief as she approached the vehicle.

And when she opened the driver side door, she gasped in shock.

Her old teddy bear, Lancelot, had been placed there.

This seriously perplexed her. She hadn't even pulled her aged keepsake, which she had since childhood, out of the box she had placed it in when she moved out of her birth home. It was supposed to be placed next to a stack of her fairytale books in an unopened box in her current apartment home, which she had only recently moved to.

And yet, here the plush toy was, apparently preparing to drive Sarah home.

A part of her expected the toy to suddenly turn its head to her and speak in Jareth's voice, but it remained quiet. Moving Lancelot to the passenger side and settling herself into the driver's seat, she pulled Lancelot into her lap after pulling the car door shut and examined her furry longtime companion.

Attached to his back by a piece of clear tape was a folded parchment, which she was quick to pull off the toy's back and open up. Sarah's eyes then followed the flowing, elegant script of what was written upon the paper.

**I wish I could say that this is going to be easy for you, Sarah Williams.**

**But if this is truly your heart's desire, you're going to have to fight for it.**

**In ways you've never dared imagine, in your wildest dreams.**

**You will have to go far beyond the ways and means in which you first defeated him.**

**They will foresee your efforts as meddling.**

**They will find you, judge you, and punish you.**

**Only then will the meaning of his salvation be revealed.**

**It has already begun.**

Sarah frowned, a little confused by the read. Particularly for the fact that there was no signature upon it, nor could she recognize the script, beautiful as it was.

"Salvation…?" she wondered aloud.


	5. Chapter 5: Courtly Intrigue

The Lady Vestrie had just finished entertaining one of the more pleasant Seelie Lords with the playing of a rich and melodic composition on her preferred musical instrument: the Harp. Such was her incredible talent that she could literally play her gold-plated, stringed and always perfectly-tuned instrument blindfolded. She liked doing this often. In this way, she could feel the music as she played it, rather than having images potentially distract her from the concentration she needed in producing the perfect melodies.

Needless to say, the Seelie Lord…an entirely benevolent manner of High Elf…was quite pleased.

Such was the Lady Vestrie's more public face among her peers of the Seelie Court, all of whom endeavored to be paragons of virtue and strong moral fiber. Not all of them were capable of such high ideals…the Lady Vestrie herself being very much the example, given her secret dalliance with Jareth and her contempt for mortal females like Sarah Williams…but for the most part, her peers held to their preference for the high ideal.

The Unseelie were the opposite side of the coin. Theirs were the darker urges of the spirit. Like the Seelie, not all who were Unseelie were entirely evil. Occasionally, even one who had the most malevolent visage could ironically be capable of strong moral fiber, and perhaps even true heroism. Truly, between the Seelie and the Unseelie aspects of the Fae, the distinctions of hero and villain blended all too often. The beautiful, benign Princess with a hidden craving for violence and murder. The monstrous, slime-covered beast showing unconditional kindness to the young.

Some could even start out pure in moral fiber, but then suddenly dissolve to embrace darker urges. Such was the case of the Prince Angaron, who had rescued Vestrie…long before the Labyrinth incident involving Sarah and Toby…from a vile kidnapper of the Unseelie. At first, it seemed as if Angaron and Vestrie would live happily ever after, but Vestrie learned that the Prince had not so much risked his life through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered for love so much as he did it for purely political reasons. Rescuing and marrying Vestrie, to him, was advantageous in his climb up the ladder of influence among his peers.

But Vestrie wanted love. Pure, unconditional love.

With no other potential suitors coming forward for fear of risking the Prince's considerable wrath, however, the High Elf noblewoman felt trapped in this less-than-fulfilling association.

Only the handsome, wild-haired, and ever-mysterious Prince Jareth seemed brave enough to scoff at the Prince's vengeful reputation, literally laughing it off in a manner that endeared Vestrie. Even when she feared that Angaron was beginning to suspect their dalliance, Jareth laughed off any possible concern.

Vestrie, however, feared how far Angaron's capacity for vengeance would go if he _did_, somehow, find out.

She walked along the Golden Lane, which was earning a reputation for being a place where courtly intrigue was a near-constant occurrence. Secret conversations owing to nefarious plots. Physical confrontations. Even arguments between the heartbroken, or meetings between shadowy assassins and publicly-respected nobles, if not actual assassination attempts.

Vestrie never imagined she would become subject to any manner of incident involving courtly intrigue walking down the Golden Lane, and she had used the route regularly in her travels. Such was her self-assurance that she never expected to be grabbed from behind and shoved towards the shadows of the building that stood near the Golden Lane. The Lane area was empty, so there were no witnesses to this occurrence.

Such was an arrangement the black-robed Angaron had established in his want for a private discussion with Vestrie. One that would show his 'beloved' that he was willing to do anything to keep potential suitors from severing the advantageous bond between them.

_Anything._

Shoving Vestrie to the white marble floor of the building, Angaron remained in the shadows of the surrounding columns as he spoke. "You should start learning to play a funeral dirge, my dear. Your goblin suitor might need it."

Vestrie had landed hard upon the white surface, and pain shot through her delicate limbs as she rose, frowning. "He is NOT a goblin! He is a beautiful man!"

"Just as all those _other _suitors are? Or in some cases, _were?_" Angaron countered. He had indeed arranged for the…removal…of most potential suitors interested in courting Vestrie. At least, those who were not scared off by Angaron's initial attempts to keep them away from the Lady Vestrie. "How many more times must I impress upon you of how foolish it would be for you to try and escape my notice?"

"I am a Lady of beauty and refinement!" Vestrie spat back. "Not a mere decoration for you to flaunt!"

"Do I not shower you with affection?" Angaron reminded her. "Have I not provided you with your heart's desire?"

"Have you ever actually spoke those three words since you rescued me?" Vestrie countered. "Have we ever actually _kissed _since then, with true love in both of our hearts? Can you even now say those three words?"

Angaron of course knew what three words she referred to. They were _I Love You_.

After a moment of silence, Angaron's calm but menacing voice spoke again. "I would rather put it another way, milady."

And at that, Angaron produced a blade from the folds of his black cloak. In the space between them, the coldness of the blade could be felt as a rust-colored mist swirled around the dagger-sized weapon.

Vestrie gasped aloud in horror. This was blasphemy! Angaron had produced a weapon which could instantly kill a Fae in one terrible stroke. Carrying this weapon openly was a crime among the Seelie, and harsh punishments awaited those caught with it.

It was an Iron Winter Blade.

"I am willing to _kill_ for you." Angaron intoned. "I might also feel compelled to end our association permanently if you push me far enough with your dalliances, my dear."

"And what makes you think I am not going to expose the fact that you carry that…thing…in the first place?" Vestrie defiantly remarked.

Angaron then flipped the deadly blade around with a quick flick of his hand, and the weapon suddenly became a palm-sized crystal ball. "Because they will find no blade when they come calling, Lady. They will, however, find a reminder of what was stolen from me, forcing me to create another set." In emphasis of this point, Angaron began to send the ball rolling around his slender hand and wrist in an almost hypnotic fashion.

"You love those ridiculous little trinkets you craft more than you truly love me, 'darling'." Vestrie growled as she rose to her feet, wincing in pain.

"Indeed. Like a mortal child playing with toys." Angaron then stepped close to the Seelie woman. "Or a Goblin King toying with silly mortals, one of which he might secretly be in love with."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Vestrie noted. "It has been _years _since the time of the Champion of the Labyrinth! Jareth doesn't care for that selfish hussy at all!"

"And if she returned?" Angaron curiously mused. "Remember…I said I would be willing to _kill _for you. Think on this."

Angaron began to walk away at this…but Vestrie kept herself in earshot, stepping towards him. "Why would you mention her, anyway? You don't plan on bringing her back, are you?" She asked.

Angaron turned her head to the Seelie noblewoman, leaving her with one last cryptic remark.

"It has already begun."

He then turned back to the shadows and disappeared into them, leaving Vestrie confused and concerned.


	6. Chapter 6: Now You See Her

Sarah dwelled on the note that had been left for her, practically losing sleep over it after having gotten home.

It was for this reason that, for the first time in her long tenure working at the library, she was late by about ten minutes. Miss Caine had always wanted to catch her in the act of making such a mistake, and it looked like this time, she would get her chance.

But then, Sarah could call the miserly old hag on her own propensity to come late for work, although she was never late for more than five minutes on the rare occasions when she did come in griping on some lame excuse for being late.

Rushing into the library, she figured she could coast right by the checkout area without Miss Caine seeing her, since her attention was almost always centered on her typical line of customers…

"MISS WILLIAMS!" came the dreaded cry from Miss Caine's post. Unfortunately for Sarah, the morning was slow, and the grumpy old woman had no patrons to check out books for.

Sarah stopped in her tracks, shutting her eyes in defeat, and she stood perfectly still as she heard the harsh impacts of Miss Caine's heels moving towards her. "I'm sorry, Miss Caine…I realize I'm…"

"Late! _Later _than late!" Miss Caine scolded, wagging a finger in emphasis. "Later than anyone who works here has ever _been! _And on a day when it is _your turn _at the checkout counter!"

Sarah sighed. "I have no excuse. I turned in late. Something was bothering me, and I…I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, _really?_" Miss Caine huffed. "And have you ever heard of sleep medicine, young lady?"

"Miss Caine, I…"

"Never you mind!" Miss Caine rudely interjected. "One more instance of lateness, Miss Williams, and I shall _banish _you from my kingdom entirely!"

"I promise you, Miss Caine." Sarah raised her hands in emphasis. "I will never, _ever_ be late again." She then began to walk over to the front desk.

"Ex-_cuuuuse _me, Miss Williams!" the old woman firmly remarked. "I am _not _finished with you yet!" The woman then began moving, with frumpy steps, to the children's section. "Follow me!"

As miserable as Sarah already felt, she had hoped it wouldn't get any worse…but clearly, Miss Caine was on a roll today.

When they both entered the Children's wing, Miss Caine then moved to the cart of books that had yet to be sorted and fired a finger towards it. "How do you explain _this?_"

Sarah had to admit, this was new. It wasn't the first time she had left unfinished work. Miss Caine had never complained about it until now, but apparently Sarah was learning…the hard way…the disadvantages of being late.

"I was going to finish it first thing, Miss Caine." Sarah reasoned.

"I am binding you to the desk for the _entire day_, Miss Williams!" Miss Caine huffed. "And when your shift is over, I am sending you in here to finish this work, and to clear the two carts full of books I've reserved for you!"

Sarah's eyes widened. "_What?_ That's not _fair!_ This is the only…"

"THIS IS YOUR PENALTY for your tardiness, young lady!" Miss Caine hollered, continuing to gripe as she moved with an armful of books to one of the aisles near the front desk, Sarah moving slowly behind the desk in her frustration. "That, and reading unnecessarily violent books to impressionable young minds! You might as well be reading of ghosts and goblins! Well, you must have enough ghosts in your past from what I hear about you, but after all the goody two-shoes frustration you routinely give me…"

She turned to Sarah, who was taking her place at the front desk, and who was already signing in at the checkout computer with a very sullen expression on her face.

"…well, I wish the goblins would come and take you away _right now!_" Miss Caine immediately turned away in a huff to administer to the library aisles, leaving her hapless charge to await new patrons.

There was only one patron in the library at the moment, and the middle-aged man approached the front desk to have his political non-fiction text checked out…

…but, to his surprise, the front desk was now empty.

His brow furrowed in confusion. After all, he saw a sullen woman there a moment ago…

* * *

One minute, Sarah Williams was staring at the screen, slowly typing out her password on the noisy, yellow-tinted old keyboard. _L-A-N-C-E-L-_

The next, she was falling, the seat she was sitting on tumbling below her. She yelped when she realized this, and she continued to drop downward through the damp, narrow pit.

At least, until she was suddenly grabbed by groups of hands that looked vaguely familiar to her. Hands she had not seen in about 20 years. Hands that had once given her a choice: to go up, or down.

Helping Hands.

As before, those hands that were still free formed the rough outline of a face, and the hands representing the mouth began to speak. "Nice of you to drop in on us again!"

Another group of hands spoke. "Are we hurting you this time?"

"Drop me up!" Sarah shouted. "Drop me up this time!"

A third group of hands now spoke. "Awww. Now she wants to go up!"

A fourth now. "Are you _sure _you don't want to go down?"

The third again. "Down helped you _last _time!"

"Drop me _up _this time! Please!" Sarah pleaded.

"Don't worry!" The second group assured. "You won't get hurt when you land! It's not much further down!"

"Finally! We get to be helping hands!" The fourth group of hands chimed.

"Helping her down from the goblin trap!" The first group of hands added.

Sarah frowned at this revelation. "The goblin trap?"

All groups of hands spoke. "The goblin trap!"

"_What _goblin trap?" Sarah asked.

"The goblin trap that is the goblin trap!" The hands replied.

Sarah sighed in frustration. "_What goblin trap?_"

All groups of hands again. "The goblin trap you fell through!"

"What if we told you down would be _good _this time?" The first group asked.

"But I want to go UP!" Sarah protested. "You gave me a choice last time! I want to go _up_ this time! Up! Send me back up!"

The first group of hands spoke now. "But there's something in the way of going up!"

Sarah blinked in confusion. "What's that?"

All Helping Hands spoke in unison one last time. "GRAVITY!"

And then, the Hands let her go, and she screamed the rest of the way down the narrow hole.

It was not long before she found herself dropping down through open air as the narrow tunnel opened onto a blue sky decorated by wisps of clouds.

When Sarah finally landed, it was upon some kind of soft, plushy mound. A large mound, big enough to break her fall.

Sarah just laid there for a moment, looking around her warily. She then noticed that the mound she was laying upon was more like a thick pile. She lay in the midst of a bunch of shaped, stuffed humanoid toys. Picking one of them up, she saw that it looked very much like she did when she was first brought to the labyrinth. The same dress, the same hairstyle. All of it replicated perfectly.

The doll had a cute smile on her face, too.

The other dolls in the mound she had fallen upon looked exactly the same as the first one, and she tried to make her way down to the ground from where she had landed.

But the mound suddenly seemed to swallow her whole, sinking her in the sea of plush dolls. From that moment, all was dark, and she felt like she was being smothered by a thousand plush bodies. She felt as if she were being pulled downward, as well.

And after another moment of being smothered, she was then dropped down into a chamber of some kind, and the sound of wicked laughter could be heard all around her as she landed.

When she looked at herself, she noticed that her coat, her scarf, even her Renaissance bag was gone. The clothes she chose to dress herself in for the day were also gone, and replaced by the very same outfit she wore when she first met the Goblin King.

The very same outfit the dolls were wearing.

The giggling and cackling continued, and she recognized the horrid little sounds to be those of goblins.

She now knew exactly where she was.

And when she turned to look for him, she found that smirking, devilishly handsome face…with the same wild head of hair…staring back at her.

"Well!" Jareth began, in mock-surprise. "If it isn't…you! How long has it been, Sarah?" He rolled one of his crystals up to the palm of his gloved hand. "Twenty years, judging by the extra lines on your face?"

The crystal became a peach with a flip of the orb around his hand. Sarah just stayed silent. She wasn't at all sure what to say first in her struggle to speak to the man she still did not know, even after 20 years, whether she should love for tempting her with his world, or hate for having stolen a child she had been entrusted to.

Jareth, however, looked confused by Sarah's reaction. "What?" He glanced to the peach, and then offered it to her. "Are you hungry?"


	7. Chapter 7: All For One

"You haff been found GEEL-ty by zee laws ov ze Oonda-grrround!"

The black-helmeted goblin's announcement was met with a dozen other ugly cries of elation from others like the squat, misshapen underlings.

"Haff you any vords bevore vee make zentenz, dvarf?"

Hoggle was clearly not having a very nice day. He was suddenly a wanted man among the goblins, and they had been chasing him for reasons that were entirely unclear to the hapless dwarf. He had never gotten a chance to ask, and now seemed to be the best time. Despite the fact that he was now entirely bound in goblin ropes, being held by the armored goblin's ugly cohorts.

"WHAT am I guilty of?" Hoggle cried out.

The armored goblin tilted his head to the side curiously, but then spoke to his squat, ugly-looking companions. "Let zee record zhow zat zee dvarf haz reqvested _reazoneeng _vor zentenz! Und zat reazoneeng…eeeezzz…"

Hoggle listened in close, as the armored goblin drew ever closer, about to reveal the desired reason…

"…_NONE OV YOUR BEEZ-NEZZ!_"

The armored goblin then fired a gnarled finger to the left. "Take heeem to bee-kome a Preenz ov zee land ov ZTENNNCH!"

Hoggle's already large eyes boggled further. He knew what that meant, and he also suspected who might have ordered these goblins to "arrest" him, judging by a warning Jareth had once given him. But why wait twenty years to punish the dwarf for disobeying the Goblin King, in his desire to help Sarah Williams? Was it to lull the well-meaning dwarf into a false sense of security? A long-standing, but ultimately temporary forgiveness?

None of it made any difference now. They were already dragging him to the one place he had always dreaded. The one place he would never willingly set foot near. The one place that would make anyone setting foot in the spitting, burbling thickness of its smelly, vulgar-sounding muck bear its horrible odor for the rest of their lives.

They were taking him to the Bog of Eternal Stench.

The poor dwarf protested loudly. He even called out names in hopes that they would come racing out to help him. Sarah. Ludo. Didymus. _Anyone_.

He feared that he would at long last feel the muck all over his body, making him even more repulsive than he believed he already was. They had him tightly bound, and there was no way he could undo himself. Not without help.

In the twenty years since the incident in the labyrinth, the goblins had replaced the Bog's bridge passage with a much higher one, owing to the King's stated desire to suspend miscreants like Hoggle over it, the head hovering dangerously over the spitting, belching cesspool.

This was the first time the goblins actually _tried _it on this bridge, which had cranks on either end allowing it to separate, and no guiderails along the sides. Goblins were always on hand to man the cranks, working in day and night shifts so that the bridge would always be ready to allow travelers to pass, or unfortunates to be dumped right in upon activating the crank.

The cackling, gibbering goblins laid Hoggle on the ground when they reached the Bog, applying another length of rope right at the writhing dwarf's feet as they prepared him for what appeared to be an impending, precarious swing of his inverted body over the dreaded muck.

The armored goblin seemed to be directing traffic, as it were, as the goblins prepared to carry out their sentence. "ZVEENG HEEM OVAAA ZE BOG!" He cried out, his gnarled finger fired out towards the bridge.

They managed to wrestle the protesting, writhing dwarf into place, the goblins growling back to keep quiet regardless of his cries. A moment later, the bound dwarf was hung down by his feet, his head now dangerously close to the Bog's stinky surface.

They then began to swing him like a pendulum. Back, and forth. Just one drip of the stench from the spitting portions of the Bog would condemn him. Perhaps that's what they were waiting for. One drop, and they would let go, and leave him to suffer the fate he had feared all his life.

One drop sailed by in an arc very close to the tip of his nose, but he remained untouched by the disgusting Bog's gurgling and belching.

The armored goblin then screamed out triumphantly. "BEE-HOLD HOG-VEENKLE! ZE PREENZ OV ZEE LAND OV ZTENNNCH!"

Regardless of his situation, he was fed up with the distinction of having his name mispronounced. Even as he hung perilously over the Bog, he cried out angrily. "HOGGLE! _HOGGLE! _WOULD SOMEONE GET MY NAME _RIGHT_ FOR ONCE? PLEEEASE?"

At that moment, a loud growl filled the air. A growl entirely familiar to the little dwarf, who gasped in surprise. The goblins froze, looking around the area. The growl seemed to come from all around them.

And then, one of the goblins was smacked off the bridge by a speeding object that had crashed right into him.

Another deep, moaning growl filled the air. The goblins now began to quake where they stood.

Even the armored goblin's plates vibrated with fear. "Who eez eet? Who eez eet?"

Two speeding objects zipped in and plucked goblins off the bridge from where they stood, both of them landing in a distant section of the Bog with a 'bloop'.

Four goblins remained in addition to the armored one, and yet another low growl cut into the air.

By now, the armored dwarf was fed up. "ZHOW YOU-ZELLLFFF!" He cried out, firing his gnarled finger to Hoggle. "OR VE DRO…"

_BLAM__!_ The huge rock slammed right down on him, crushing the armored dwarf completely.

Now there were four goblins left, and they were lucky enough to see a large, hairy, horned beast approach them in the distance on one side of the bridge. They then heard this beast moan out a name. "HOOOO-GLLLLE…'

One goblin looked to one of his three remaining companions, once they fearfully pulled Hoggle's bound form back to the top of the bridge platform. "Ve qvit?"

Another, with a squeak of a voice, spoke in reply. "Ve qvit!"

All four obnoxious voices spoke now. "VE QVIT!" They then raced off the bridge and fled for their lives as the hairy beast continued to approach.

The goblin at the crank, on the side of the approaching beast, remained at his station, fearful to look behind him, knowing it was closing in. The shadow of the beast now hovered over him. Regardless of his fear, he had a duty to perform. "Uh…n-n-n…none shall paaAA_AAAHHH!_" The beast plucked him from his seat at the crank and tossed him into the Bog, his squat form landing with another 'bloop'.

The other bridge goblin at the opposite side quaked violently, for he felt the touch of a sharp object at his back…but this object was not so much a sword as it was a lance.

A lance that belonged to the only noble warrior in the Underground to have a sheepdog as his loyal mount.

"You were not just reaching for thy crank, vile miscreant?" Sir Didymus asked.

"No…" the goblin replied, in a hoarse voice, as the huge beast went to collect Hoggle. "I vas…I vas just qvitteeng!"

The goblin was then permitted to abandon his post as the giant, hairy beast…Ludo…took Hoggle in his arms and joined Sir Didymus and his mount, Ambrosius, on the opposite side of the bridge. Ludo brought the relieved dwarf back down to his feet as the goblin disappeared into the distance.

"Thank _goodness _you both came when you did!" Hoggle remarked. "Nice work with those rocks, Ludo!"

"What fwiends for?" Ludo responded.

"What hast I told thou about striking out on thy own, Sir Hoggle?" Didymus then scolded. "Safety in numbers! The three of us must stick together from now on!" The mounted knight then raised his lance skyward. "All for one…aaaand?"

"Three to get as far away from this Bog as possible, if you don't mind!" Hoggle griped, already distancing himself from the one place he never thought he'd ever see again.

"Oh, bother! You were supposed to say 'one for all'!" Didymus huffed.

But Ludo suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking around curiously, perhaps sensing something amiss.

Hoggle had gotten a bit of a distance from Ludo before he noticed that both he and Sir Didymus were leaving the gentle giant behind them. The dwarf stopped and sprinted back over to him. "Ludo? What is it?"

Then they both heard a rumbling sound, the ground beginning to shake. The tremor seemed to pass after a moment.

Ludo then turned his hairy, horned head to the dwarf. "Wocks _scared_."

It was then that the entire area was suddenly plunged into chaos with a much more violent rumbling that shook anything and everything around the trio, shattering rocks and splitting the ground apart into sections, some of them literally falling away, other sections of ground splitting the group up, forcing them to stand in small, prevailing sections of the ground, with treacherous depths awaiting the advance of a single footstep off the small patches of land to which they were now bound. The chasm below them then began to fill with molten lava, and they each found themselves trapped. Ludo at one area, Sir Didymus and Ambrosius at another, and Hoggle stuck upon a square patch of land of his own.

The area seemed to take on the ambience of a puzzle by the time the rumblings and the shocks settled.

The trio stood mystified. There was no way out of this particular predicament.

"Eeeeeeasy, Ambrosius!" Didymus warned. "Not one step more, or we shall plummet!"

Unless, someone would come along and try to save them. Not too far from where they were stranded was a stretch of untouched land.

"What dost thou surmise, Sir Hoggle?" Didymus asked.

"The only explanation I can figure," Hoggle rubbed at his chin in his assessment. "is that the King has completely changed the labyrinth."

"Jaweth BAAAD." Ludo growled.

"Preposterous!" Didymus remarked aloud. "There hasn't been a reconfiguring of this domain for at least twenty years!"

"Right." Hoggle replied. "And what happened twenty years ago? Who did we meet?"

It took a moment for Sir Didymus to remember, but the memory hit both him and Ludo at the same time. "Thou dost not imagine…_she _might have returned, dost thou?"

Ludo moaned in agreement, staring at the smouldering magma beds far below. "Saaawah…"


	8. Chapter 8: You Have Power Over Me

Jareth continued to stare upon the much-older Sarah Williams, perhaps getting himself used to the changes in her appearance which, truthfully, did little to detract from how naturally attractive Sarah was, young or old.

The Goblin King then ventured a guess as to the woman's silence. "You haven't become a _mute_, have you, Sarah?"

And then, finally, Sarah spoke. "The Helping Hands told me that I'm down here because of a 'Goblin Trap'. You, uh, want to tell me about it, Jareth? Was that trap _your _idea?"

Jareth continued staring upon the Peach he had created from the crystal. "Don't you like Peaches anymore, Sarah?"

"ANSWER ME!" Sarah then demanded.

Jareth's eyes flared as his gaze went from the Peach to the indignant woman. "Need I remind you that you are down here at the request of another!"

"The _Goblin Trap_, Jareth!" Sarah firmly reminded.

Jareth needed a moment before he explained. "It could have opened up anywhere in that library, Sarah. I might also add, in all honesty, that the trap was _not _my idea."

"OK…then whose was it?" Sarah asked.

Jareth smiled a sly grin. "That…would be telling, my dear. Although I will admit that some of these wretches seem to hold to some insane idea that you belong down here with us."

Sarah smirked at this. "Fat chance."

Jareth, however, countered with a particularly menacing gaze, maintaining his sly grin, and his tone became firm and sharp. "Fat Sarah."

Sarah blinked, feeling an odd tingle ripple throughout her body…and then she gasped, her eyes going wide with shock, as she felt a sudden surge of bloating pressure expand her body significantly, much to the surprise of the surrounding goblins. The weight was too much for her to remain upright, and she fell back on her much larger posterior, much to the delight and the wicked laughter of the ugly goblins surrounding her. Her clothes were larger now as well, barely large enough to keep from being ripped by the expanse of fleshy mass. It was a humiliating feeling, and Sarah was so big, and so radically fat, she could hardly move

"HEY LOOK!" One goblin taunted. "REALLY BIG SARAH!"

"PLUS-PLUS-_PLUS_ SIZE SARAH!" Another mused aloud, in an obnoxious voice.

"EXTRA-CHUNKY!" Came another loud, wicked observation.

Sarah could hardly believe what had just happened to her. All she could do was continue to lie there, limbs flailing as her mass remained where she had fallen. She found that with her extreme largeness, she could only breathe short breaths.

"Change…me…_baaaack!_" She cried out.

Once again, Jareth offered the Peach. "Are you _sure _you don't want something to eat?"

"Jareth, _pleeeease!_" Sarah hollered.

"Pleeeease…what?" Jareth asked. "Change you back, or give you my Peach?"

"_JARETH!_"

"What if I told you the Peach could change you back?" Jareth mused. "Would you eat it then?"

Her voice quaked with fear now. "Please, Jareth…don't leave me like this…"

"Why?" Jareth sharply asked. "You beat me, Sarah. You _burned _me when you said those six words, and for twenty years, I've had to feel the sting of that defeat. Well, I'm sure you feel the irony now, don't you? Someone wished you back down here, after all. Someone other than you. Do you know what that means, dear?"

Sarah dreaded what she was about to hear, the logic entirely apparent now.

Jareth leaned towards the large, flailing form in front of him with an evil smirk. "_I have power over you._"

Sarah closed her eyes as the tears began to flow from them.

"I could turn your nose into a large trunk, give you a tail and make your ears big and floppy if I wanted to, Sarah." Jareth gloated. "My own personal elephant."

"Why don't you put your money where your _mouth_ is, then?" Sarah challenged.

"Because I find it preferable to keep you just like this. A perfect trophy." Jareth replied. "An object lesson in defiance."

"But you _won't!_" Sarah loudly remarked.

Jareth quirked an eyebrow as the other goblins now turned back to Sarah curiously. "Really?" The Goblin King mused.

"You bring me here, without even giving me a chance to prove that I _still_ have power over you?" Sarah offered. "I _challenge _you!" She then cried out.

"To what?" Jareth calmly mused. "A game of guess-your-weight?"

"You restore me, you bastard!" Sarah defiantly cried out. "You give me another thirteen hours! You put me in another labyrinth!"

"And if I don't? Then what?" Jareth asked. "What makes you think I care about you anymore, Sarah?"

"Why do your goblins think I belong down here with you?" Sarah replied. "What do you think they _meant _by that?"

Jareth went quiet at this.

"You want me back in that Ballroom, Jareth! You want another dance!" Sarah noted. "_Admit _it!"

"I will only admit that this is a rather desperate tempt, Sarah." Jareth remarked, after a moment of thought. "For one who I now, at long last, have power over."

"You're a _coward_, Jareth!" Sarah defiantly cried out.

"You fear me now, Sarah, for what I have just done to you. You surmise that I still love you, which means a part of you must love _me_." Jareth deduced. "What's next? You get to do as I say?"

"I can't do _anything _if you leave me like this!" Sarah protested aloud

"Obviously…" Jareth replied, rising from his throne. "…which means I can't be your slave, can I?" He slowly approached Sarah's horribly obese form, and hopped on top of the fleshy mass, moving himself up towards Sarah's head enough to see the young woman's suffering, tear-streaked face.

The Goblin King then crossed his arms in front of him and rested his chin upon them, looking down at Sarah's bloated face. "If I put you in another labyrinth, my big-boned beloved, who is to say that it won't be next to impossible for a mere mortal like yourself to complete?"

"I bet you said that the _first _time, Jareth!" Sarah countered. "You'll never know unless you restore me and give me my thirteen hours!"

"I suppose you'll want your freedom…your boring excuse for a life…if you somehow succeed." Jareth mused. "Once those thirteen hours are up, however…"

"You get your trophy." Sarah confirmed. "You get _me_."

"Yes." Jareth cooed malevolently, with a wicked smile. "Every glorious pound of you."

Jareth then produced a gold needle and touched the pointed end to a portion of Sarah's exposed flesh. A loud _BANG _followed, and Sarah was entirely restored to her normal appearance, although she wore the same outfit. She gasped at this sudden restoration as Jareth rolled off of her and rose to his feet, goblins cackling all around him.

"So be it, Sarah Williams. Have your one and only shot at freedom!" Jareth announced, shooting a gloved finger out towards her. "Reach the center of my new labyrinth where my greatest and most valuable prize awaits you. Far more than you ever dared dream. My gift to you, so-called 'Champion of the Labyrinth', should you find your way there in the next _six hours and thirty minutes!_"

Sarah's eyes boggled at this as she rose to her feet in alarm. "_What?_ I asked for thirteen hours!"

"You asked me to restore you, Sarah…did you not?" Jareth slyly revealed, the peach in his hand reverting back to a crystal. "You sacrifice half the time you ask for by making such a request of me when I am now the one who has power over you!"

He then cast the crystal right at Sarah, and the transparent globe…upon touching Sarah's neck…instantaneously became a black leather band, which wrapped snugly around the young woman's neck, forming a collar.

"Six hours and thirty minutes, Sarah Williams!" Jareth once again announced in reminder. "Just feel free to dive right in!"

The ground then opened up under Sarah's feet, and the Champion of the Labyrinth plummeted down until she found herself caught within the center of a tornado-like wind tunnel, slowly drifting down. Looking above her, she saw that the Goblin King's Castle was now hovering above the Underground surface, no longer landlocked.

Eventually, her feet found solid ground, and she was now in a familiar place. The very same place where she had met the small worm who had given her a bit of…supposedly helpful advice twenty years ago.

The worm's voice was the first thing she heard upon regaining her senses as the wind tunnel evaporated. "Coming down, eh? That was much safer than going up! If you had been going up, you would have gone straight to that…"

"Oh, _shut up_." Sarah growled as she picked a direction and began walking, clearly upset over her miserable situation.

But at least, there was one small comfort.

The game was on once more.


	9. Chapter 9: The Relativity Room

Rounding the corner past the initial optical illusion that she remembered from her first foray through the labyrinth, Sarah found herself walking down a _very _long and narrow corridor. It just seemed to stretch and stretch and it began to look like she would never find a diverting corner or even a doorway.

The hallway seemed a little hypnotic to Sarah by virtue of its visual makeup. She found herself staring as she moved. It was a good ten minutes in that she noticed something amiss about it, and she stopped.

She then faintly heard the sound of Jareth chuckling.

On a hunch, she decided to close her eyes, and take a few more steps.

That was when she felt herself walk off a ledge. A rush of air came up from under her, and she drifted downward. Opening her eyes, she saw herself settle upon a square platform in a very familiar room.

It was the relativity room, which Sarah remembered was the last segment of the labyrinth that she confronted Jareth in, before she said the words that defeated him.

Upon this version, however, were choices. Archways, gaps wide enough to jump over, and stairwells. Each white marble archway looked the same, too. Two goblins at the sides serving as columns, and along the top, a pose of Sarah herself, looking naked and rubenesque in figure, lying across the top edge. In her right hand was always a peach.

All it took, apparently, to get things started was to leap across the gap in front of her, and begin walking along the passages, at the end of which were the three choices. An archway, the gap, or the stairs.

Upon leaping to the first nearby lane, however, the urgency became apparent, for stepping out of one of the archways directly _over _her was Jareth himself.

In one of his gloved hands was a thin chain, and the rules now seemed clear. Run into Jareth, he attaches the leash to the black collar she was wearing.

Game over.

Fortunately, Jareth did not move until Sarah did, and she followed along the marble path towards the end, and her first three choices. The image of Jareth looked directly down upon her, being right over her head. Apparently waiting for her to make a choice.

Sarah hesitated, trying to think.

The chain was then swung down like a pendulum right in front of her face as another chuckling from Jareth could be heard.

She opted for the jump, ignoring the brush of the chain over her face as she burst forward.

The next passage went straight ahead before reaching another round of three choices. This time, Jareth was nowhere to be seen. Sarah stepped carefully, however. She remembered one of the tricks Jareth used the last time to ultimately catch up to her.

He had come up from _under _her, walking upside down beneath her, his body coming up around the edge for the final confrontation.

This time, however, Sarah was older…and hopefully, wiser.

She continued to the edge of the long, narrow platform…and then headed down the stairs to her right as Jareth swung up at the edge of the platform, just as Sarah had anticipated. If she had jumped the gap, Jareth would have been able to grab her.

But the staircase stopped at a chasm, and did not offer an option to leap another gap to a narrow lane. Nor was there any archway to divert into.

And when Sarah glanced behind her, she saw that Jareth was descending the stairs toward her.

Sarah tried Jareth's own trick of swinging to the opposite side…and sure enough, she was on the opposite side of the stairs, offering the option to ascend back up, this time from the upside-down perspective. She moved quickly up the stairs and once she was at the top, she opted this time for the offered archway, choosing it over both a new passage and a gap.

Walking through the archway made her feel odd, even as it offered another narrow passage that angled to the left, and another three choices. Looking down upon her body, she noticed that her normally slim figure now looked as rubenesque as the archway sculptures. The faint sound of wicked goblin laughter was also heard as she stepped through the archway. At the bottom step of the stairway choice was Jareth, a sly smile on his face. He was not moving, however.

He did when Sarah began moving along the passage, however, and it seemed as if he was matching her pace for pace as she headed towards the end. At this pace, he would have her once she reached the end of the passage.

But then, Sarah closed her eyes, as she kept moving. She did this twice as she proceeded.

Sure enough, this slowed Jareth's pace and enabled her to leap across her gap choice without being caught by her crafty foe.

It was then that she heard a much different…and far more familiar…voice. Very faint, but in a direction she now found herself progressing toward as she continued through the relativity portion of Jareth's new labyrinth.

"Saaaawaaaaahhhh…"

Ludo.

She tried not to let her reaction…her building anticipation to reunite with her large, horned, hairy and rock-savvy friend…get the best of her. One unwise move, any kind of rushing, and she'd be leashed to Jareth for the rest of her life. She had to stay careful.

At one point, she heard Ludo again, but in order to get closer, she needed to choose an archway, which she dreaded for the fact that it would make her figure a little bigger.

Fortunately, however, passing through the archway this time restored her normal figure.

It made sense now. Ludo was her goal.

The next passage curved left. And then right, and then right again. Jareth was nowhere to be seen here.

And she didn't hear anything from Ludo.

Sarah began to feel uneasy now. The only choice was the passage. She wasn't even sure if Jareth was beneath it, and he was not at all behind her.

The passage curved left now, and a large square cube of a chamber could be seen ahead.

Upon entering, the doorway disappeared behind her, becoming a part of the wall around her. Dizzying designs of squares could be seen upon the mirrored walls all around her, with a dark chasm far below the mirrored platform. In the center of the decorated floor was a circle wide enough to stand in.

There were three exits left in this room. One to the left, another to the right, and one straight ahead. Standing in front of the right and the left exits, however, were two images of Jareth.

To the north, however, was someone new. Another humanoid figure, this one in a dark cloak, with a hood surrounding a white porcelain mask with feminine features decorating it. Human eyes could be seen within the eyeholes.

This one gestured for Sarah to come straight forward.

But could she trust this one?

She figured it could be another image of Jareth. All throughout this new labyrinth, she made it a point never to forget the hard lesson she learned when she went through Jareth's first labyrinth.

Nothing is as it seems.

Once she reached the center circle, however, a loud shattering was heard. The entire glass platform, save for three narrow passages to the left, the right, and straight ahead, broke and rained down to the seemingly bottomless chasm below.

Sarah gasped, and she was now beginning to feel nervous.

"LUDOOOO!" She called out, as loud and as sharp as she could.

The two Jareth images began to approach Sarah in the center now, and Sarah saw the paths behind the Jareth images dissolve to powder.

She also saw, as the Jareth images approached, the passage leading straight ahead dissolve.

It seemed like this was it. The labyrinth wasn't a labyrinth at all.

It was a trap.

The left image spoke first as it moved in closer. "Game…"

Then the right image spoke. "…over…"

Then _both _spoke. "…Sarah."

They brought up the ends of their leashes. The new figure, now unreachable at all, just stood there silently.

And then, finally…from down below…

"Saaaaaawaaaaaaahhh!"

Sarah stepped off the central circle, which shattered when she left it…and she landed on what felt like a coal-black rock. It felt like she had descended a step down on a staircase.

Another blasted optical illusion! She now saw a pattern of rocks, spiraling down in a staircase arrangement. The blackness of the chasm had masked them!

She also heard the ringing of a chain behind her. Looking back, she was too late to duck the casting of Jareth's chain, which immediately linked to Sarah's collar. He had cast it towards her like a lasso, and now he was trying to reel her in.

Sarah, however, continued her passage down the steps even as the collar was pulling against her throat, ever defiant. She was making progress, too. She had descended down three black rock platforms thus far before she found herself straining against the leash.

Sarah now began to jerk upon the chain, trying to somehow snap it off the collar. She knew she couldn't get the collar itself off, for there was no end strap, and the black leather was strong.

Then came one hard jerk coming from Jareth's end, and Sarah was pulled back up a black platform she had descended from, now two steps from Jareth.

"You want this, Sarah." Jareth malevolently intoned. "You want _me_."

Sarah gritted her teeth, blood rushing to her head as she pulled away from Jareth as hard as she could, fighting through the agony around her neck.

And then, flitting through the air, a thin blade surrounded by a cold brown mist lanced into one of the middle links of the leash chain, burning out the link and releasing Sarah, who now began to tumble uncontrollably down each black platform, which formed a spiral pattern.

The dagger then flitted back to the black-gloved hand of the masked stranger, who sheathed it.

Jareth looked up angrily to this masked stranger.

And the masked stranger, without saying a single word, raised a gloved hand and made a curious gesture to the Goblin King.

He gave Jareth the finger.


	10. Chapter 10: The Wall of Numbers

The platforms leveled out to become a black path that sloped downwards, illuminated by the now bright cube room light above. Sarah, however, could not stop rolling, and she maintained her downward momentum until she finally banged into a purple-painted wooden door, which swung inward upon impact. With all her rolling, she was never able to figure out what manner of room she had rolled into, but when she was finally able to come to her senses, she was in some kind of bedroom.

A bedroom she recognized to be her new apartment bedroom.

One of the reasons she had chosen the apartment to begin with was because of the bedroom, which reminded her a lot of the bedroom she had when she lived with Toby, her father, and her stepmother. The bed she had gotten for the room was an old-fashioned one, bought off eBay. It was a fourposter bed with marble fairy statuettes on each post, with silken sheets and a fluffy pillow.

All over _this _version of the room, however, were boxes, which she recognized to be the many boxes she had hauled in with her when she initially moved in…but the odd thing was that there were more boxes here than she remembered bringing, and they were stacked at the outer edges of the room, with a strange, throne-like arrangement of six boxes upon the bed.

She curiously walked over to the vanity mirror…but she gasped aloud at what she saw.

She saw herself, but her outfit was different.

It was a Scullery Maid's dress.

Stepping away, and then looking down at herself, she saw that she was now _wearing _the dress.

It was then that the topmost box on the bed began to rumble and shake, as if something inside it was trying to get out.

Taking two slow, cautious steps toward it, the box suddenly stopped shaking, and went quiet.

She then turned behind to look upon the wall behind her, hoping to see the door she burst through.

But it was gone.

And then, from behind her…

"SPOILED PRINCESS!"

Sarah's eyes widened. The scolding old voice sounded _exactly _like the old crone, Miss Caine, who ran the neighborhood library. The woman who had wished her back into this new labyrinth.

Sarah spun around…and a piece of soft white cloth struck her right in the face.

Looking down, she saw that she had been struck in the face by what looked like a white cloth bonnet.

But when she looked back up to the bed, and the box arrangement, she saw that the short, ugly old crone with the mottled skin and the gnarled nose wasn't Miss Caine at all.

It was a goblin.

And once again, this goblin spoke in Miss Caine's exact voice as she fired a long, taloned finger down upon the bonnet on the floor. "Put…that…on!"

Sarah looked down upon the bonnet, feeling compelled to pick it up.

And in the next moment, she did…but then, she looked back up to the goblin.

"No." she calmly replied.

"SPOILED PRINCESS!" The goblin harshly repeated. "Clean up my domain _at once!_ This room is FILTHY! You have FAR TOO MANY BOXES here, Princess, and not a glass slipper in any one of them!"

Sarah looked around her general area, and then nodded. "You're right. I do have far too many boxes." She then looked back to the goblin. "How do I know which ones are really mine?"

"Hmph! They're ALL yours, _blockhead!_" The goblin scolded.

"You're really Miss Caine, aren't you?" Sarah deduced. "I've had goblins around me the whole time…Jareth set me up, didn't he?"

"PUT THAT BONNET ON AND CLEAN THESE BOXES!" The goblin again demanded.

"Or else…? What?" Sarah challenged.

The goblin leaned threateningly towards Sarah. "Or I will _banish _you from my kingdom entirely! I'll leave you to grow…fat…and…ugly!"

Sarah thought she'd feel a little different again at this condemnation, but aside from the dress change, her figure remained. Still…the threat stung, and she knew it might not be an idle one. Sarah also remembered one part of that statement, having heard it from Miss Caine in the library.

_I will banish you from my kingdom entirely._

It seemed even more likely now that Sarah had been set up. That Miss Caine was actually a goblin in disguise, waiting for the right moment to condemn the champion who had defeated her King.

"You're already looking far too _plain_ to be a Princess, impudent one!" The goblin then scolded, gesturing towards the mirror of the vanity with a gnarled cane.

Sarah had to look…and sure enough, she saw that every last bit of makeup she had on her face was gone. She did indeed look and feel plain now. Unkempt. Ugly.

But she knew it was all a mind game, and she wasn't about to fall for it. She frowned back up to the goblin.

"Now PUT THAT BONNET ON AND CLEAN THESE BOXES!" The goblin crone once again asserted, now pointing her cane to Sarah. "You're awful big on laziness, brat!"

With a defiant face, Sarah noticed that one corner of the room had a thicker array of boxes, and she moved to this set of boxes to begin pulling them all away in frustration. "I'd sooner _bury _myself in these boxes!" She cried out.

"What th…! Hey! You're making a _mess!_" The goblin then protested. "Those are your precious things!"

Sure enough, with every box cast aside from this area, Sarah's most closely-held and most important articles spilled out of these boxes as she threw them away from the corner. Sarah did not, however, cast her eyes towards them. She just kept removing boxes large and small.

Her suspicions were right on target. When enough of the boxes were pulled away, a spiral staircase leading downward was revealed. Sarah immediately planted her bare feet at the top stair and began stepping downward as fast as she could. The area below looked dark.

Candles around the room, however, came alive as Sarah entered the room below. The only things in this particular room were what looked to be a wooden toy chest, and a stone wall with several small square impressions upon it. There was no other way out of the room. The only other option was back up, but that meant confronting the goblin again, and that, clearly, was not an option.

The only possible option that remained, therefore, was to open the toy chest.

Looking inside, she saw that it was empty, save for a group of colored wooden blocks, very much like those a child would play with. Pulling one of the blocks, she saw that there were no letters of the alphabet on these blocks.

There were numbers.

When she looked back up at the wall, she saw that some of the impressions now had similar number blocks in them. There were nine impressions running across, and nine running down.

It was the first row, however, that had block installments. Looking close at the blocks revealed that they had numbers…and when she went back to the toy chest and opened it to look at the other blocks, she saw that she had the remaining blocks necessary to fill the row. Examining the numbers, she saw that the blocks on the wall, and the blocks in the toy chest, could form an arrangement of numbers from 1 to 9.

As she had grown older, she had developed a spare-time fascination with the puzzle that now presented itself to her, here, in the labyrinth.

It was a Sudoku puzzle.

She knew how this worked. Arrange the numbers from 1 to 9 in a row, filling the empty spaces with the unused numbers in the toy chest. She also noticed, upon opening the toy chest, that the blocks were placed upon a wide silken lavender cloth. Pulling this cloth revealed that it was actually a bag. No doubt to hold the blocks.

Placing the blocks in the bag, Sarah heard the harsh voice of the goblin in the room above.

"Oh! Silly me! I completely forgot I had a basement! We'll just toss your useless past down there and _lock you in! _And no supper for you tonight!"

Boxes were now being tossed down the spiral staircase, practically spilling down and rolling into the room as Sarah began working on the Wall of Numbers. She needed to go back and forth upon the damp, musty floor of the room…in bare feet…and reopen the toy chest to grab a new set of numbers. Nothing on the wall showed any indication that she was right or wrong. It just seemed entirely logical that the Sudoku method would get her through this.

More boxes spilled down, some of the boxes breaking open to reveal clothes, plush toys, books, pulled posters from her old room, jewelry, costumes, clothes...it was all beginning to fill the room as she worked back and forth between the immovable toy chest and the Wall of Numbers.

She found herself having to shove boxes aside as she made her way to the last row of numbers, after having rearranged several blocks to make sure they corresponded to the rules of the Sudoku game. As it seemed like the multitude of boxes were about to swallow her whole, the last block had been placed on a perfect Sudoku arrangement, and the entire wall caved in. The blocks of the black brick wall formed the beginning of a road as Sarah collapsed forward from being pressed against the wall by all those boxes.

One of the boxes that had fallen near Sarah…one which she remembered she had placed all her footwear…had split open. All but one pair of shoes looked broken and unusable.

And this pair of shoes were silver in color.

Sarah remembered these shoes. After having read _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz _for the first time, she had asked her father for a pair of silver-colored shoes of her own so she could envision herself as Dorothy Gale. Her father complied with that request on Christmas Day of that year.

But she was only eleven years old at the time. She never imagined these shoes could fit her now.

But they did.

Sarah rose to her feet, after putting the shoes on, and began walking along the black brick road. After a few minutes of walking, a sun rose in the distance, and revealed a countryside. The black bricks, in the light, were also revealed to be yellow in color.

She expected to see munchkins come out of bushes, but she was all alone.

At least, for the moment.

With no other option, she began to follow along the road of yellow bricks, straightening out her Scullery Maid's dress, which she began to hate.

But there was no denying the fact that the Goblin King was in control this time.

He still had power over her, and he was clearly flaunting it.


	11. Chapter 11: If I Only Had A Clue

**Author's note: I wanted to step in before this next chapter begins to offer my thanks for any and all comments and favorites thus far given to this, my first offering. I realize it's been a bit of a slog to wait for new chapters, but I'm preparing a series of "transformation" stories based on the public-domain Oz works created by L. Frank Baum even as I contribute chapters to this fanfiction. This chapter, of course, is a nod to my far more evident interest in the magical fairyland from the perspective of the fourteen Oz books written by Baum, which despite what the 1939 movie tells you is most certainly NOT supposed to be a fever dream.**

**I'll also note here that as of this writing, I have made a correction to an earlier chapter based on critique I was given by one of my followers(who is no longer following the story…sorry, I can't please everyone!). The "Lady" and "Princess" confusion involving the Vestrie character in Chapter Five, ****_Courtly Intrigue_****, has been fixed. **

**Further comments are welcomed, so long as it's constructive and doesn't take the form of flaming!**

**That being said, on with our story…**

* * *

The colorful environment was admittedly nice as Sarah continued to walk down the bright yellow road. For a moment, she really did feel like she was in that magical fairyland created by one of her favorite american fairytale authors.

But the voice of Jareth…to her left…brought her back to the reality of the labyrinth.

"Why don't you click your heels three times and wish yourself back home, Sarah?" Jareth asked, in a sly tone, as he walked alongside his quarry, matching her every step.

Sarah just kept walking forward, following the yellow path. "Because I have brains. A heart. Courage, even. I know I'm still in your labyrinth, and I know you want me to give up."

"And what do you think lies at the end of this road?" Jareth inquired. "A City of Emeralds? What if it's my Castle, Sarah?" Jareth moved up to speak right into Sarah's ear. "You could be wasting precious time." He then paced himself slower until he was directly behind her, keeping in step. "You've already spent 30 minutes, and you're well into the first of your six remaining hours."

"Bring it on, Jareth." Sarah countered. "For someone who said he had a harder labyrinth, I have to admit, that Sudoku puzzle was a pretty lame attempt at increasing the difficulty."

"Oh come now, dear. You know the golden rule. Nothing is as it seems." Jareth explained. "If I say it's the hardest, it may very well be the easiest. At least for you. Makes you wonder if this apparent cakewalk is a labyrinth at all."

"Or if this is really the land of Oz?" Sarah mused. "Dorothy Gale never wore a Scullery Maid's dress, Jareth."

"You haven't shown me any respect for my station, Sarah. I am the Goblin King." Jareth countered. "I would think you should call me 'Your Highness', or 'Your Majesty', seeing as how you're in my domain, Sarah. Again. Having left an empty life behind you in favor of my little corner of the Underground. My land of dreams. Why should I show you respect, if you haven't shown _me_ any?"

Sarah finally stopped. Jareth, behind her, stopped at the very same time. She looked on the horizon, and saw that the yellow road was indeed leading to a kind of cityscape. There was, however, no hint of an emerald glow.

This cityscape looked a bit medieval, and it did have a very beautiful-looking palace in its center.

Jareth placed his arms around Sarah's shoulders from behind, placing his chin on Sarah's right shoulder, smiling as he looked out to the looming cityscape. "I wonder what's in there. Maybe a one-eyed witch rules it. Maybe you can find a tailor to make you a blue gingham dress. Maybe you'll find an elephant that answers to your name."

Sarah slowly turned around to face Jareth, and then looked deep into the Goblin King's eyes, moving her lips close to his. Still admittedly handsome, she thought. All too easy to surrender to his spell, and leave that empty life behind. One kiss would do it.

But there was a far more pressing urge on her mind.

"Your Highness…" Sarah slowly, intimately began. "…Your Majesty…" Her lips got closer to his. "…about this dress…"

Jareth tilted his head to the side, intent on receiving the fruits of his efforts. "Lovely, isn't it?"

Sarah then shoved Jareth back, one hand on his chest, and the other on his face. And then, in the brief disorientation of the Goblin King to this surprise move, Sarah balled a fist, stepping in, and struck Jareth dead in his face as hard as she could. The monarch of the labyrinth staggered back and collapsed to the yellow brick road.

But he fell _through _it, and did not reappear.

Sarah expected that he would reappear, though, in the moment that followed. She spun around slowly, looking around the trees and the plains that flanked this yellow brick road.

And then, stepping out from behind a tree, was a beautiful young woman with pointed ears and a lovely mane of golden blond hair. Resting against this tree, she smirked at Sarah as the human's eyes settled upon her.

"I'll get you, my pret-ty." The elfin woman…the Lady Vestrie…remarked. "And believe me…it's going to hurt. Far worse than a mere fist in the face."

Sarah took a step or two towards her. "Why wait?" She challenged.

Vestrie's look turned menacing now. "Because you only have _four hours left_."

"What?" Sarah's indignant face melted to one of shock. "I'm only into the first of my six hours!"

"Jareth killed that hour, and the next, when you struck him." Vestrie informed, a grin on her face. "Truly, you humans are so impetuous. You don't deserve his heart at all. Or his brains. Or his courage."

And then, from the distant cityscape, came Ludo's voice once again. "Saaawaaaaaaah…"

Sarah snapped her head to the cityscape in recognition, and then snapped her head back to the still-smirking Vestrie, who tapped a slender finger to her other hand's wrist as a mocking reminder of the time she had been docked.

Sarah then rushed towards the distant cityscape. As she rushed in, she passed a wheat field, upon which there was a scarecrow on a post, and this scarecrow had Jareth's wild hair, and his outfit, which was stuffed with hay. A crude face was on the burlap sack it had for a head.

Nevertheless, Sarah kept running.

Sarah then ran past a forest, where he saw yet another image of Jareth, frozen in place, an axe in his hands. This image of Jareth was, however, made entirely of tin, the funnel on its head replaced by Jareth's wild hair. Near this frozen figure was an oilcan.

Nevertheless, Sarah kept running.

The cityscape was close now. Very close. Her peripheral vision caught notice of a four-legged animal following her on her left. It was a lion, of course, and its mane was the same color as Jareth's hair. It seemed logically hesitant to step in and get in Sarah's way, and it padded away by the time Sarah reached the front gate of the cityscape.

And upon reaching the gate, Sarah noticed a keyhole in the center of the door.

She sighed. She patted and checked at her outfit, but could find no key. She looked around her general area. No key. The door would not budge, either. No matter how hard she kicked, no matter how many times she shoved.

Game over.

Assuming, of course, she had wanted to give up right then and there.

She figured she needed to retrace her steps along the road, and perhaps surrender to one of the Jareth-like representations of Dorothy's three friends. Maybe being with them would give them pieces of the key she needed. Three potentially time-consuming mini-quests.

She imagined those four hours would be up by the time she had a fully-formed key.

Nevertheless, she had no other choice, and she therefore turned away from the door and began to retrace her steps along…

A loud, distant moan she knew to be Ludo slowed her steps, and she stopped. In the next moment, a very large rock slammed down in front of the gate. This rock sloped upward, providing Sarah with a means to step _over _the gate and into the city.

Sarah smiled. "Bless you, Ludo…"

She ran back toward the cityscape, and ran up the sloping rock face, easily making it over the gate.

The drop on the opposite side of the gate was a long one, but she had landed on soft ground, and her legs didn't throb as bad as she had thought after her landing. They did hurt from the landing, but the pain did not linger.

Within the cityscape now, she looked around. A lot of seemingly empty storefronts and dwellings could be seen from where she was standing, forming lanes which occasionally presented gaps.

Only one storefront had familiar sights hanging in the window. It was a white dress top, a vest, and a pair of blue jeans.

And this apparent offering corresponded to the outfit she was in before being put in the Scullery Maid dress. The outfit that replaced the one she was wearing when she landed in Jareth's domain once more.

Sarah was quick to enter the storefront, and change into the outfit, which perfectly fit her.

Checking the pockets of the jeans, however, she felt something long and metallic in the right front pocket.

It was a key.

Immediately thinking of the gate door, she sighed and put the key back in the pocket. She then resumed her progress through the first lane.

But then, as she made her way through the first lane gap…

"STOP!"

The low voice seemed to come from within one of the nearby buildings to her right…but she was already in the new lane when she stopped to look around warily.

And then, the voice spoke again.

"Oh, drat. Too late."

And then, another voice, from within another building to Sarah's left, spoke out in another low voice. "You should have come right out with it before she stepped in!"

The other countered. "Well…maybe next time…"

Sarah found the voices vaguely familiar…

The voice to her left now spoke. "Beware the next lane to the right! Upon the floor is a trap spring!"

Sarah had to see what this was. Perhaps the sight of the source would help her remember.

And sure enough, the sight of the large face within the storefront to her left set off the requisite bell of recognition in her mind.

False Alarms.

Sarah put her hands to her hips in disbelief. "And what about the left lane gap?"

"Ohhh, no." The False Alarm mournfully intoned. "You don't want _that _gap. You will open the nearby cage full of hungry wolves, and they will tear you asunder!"

And then, another voice from the building across the lane. "And then you'll be cooked by a flame gout!"

"No, no, no!" The False Alarm in front of Sarah then argued. "That's what will happen with the trap spring!"

"You told me it would release a 16 Ton weight!" the other False Alarm countered.

"No, no…that's lane 24!" Sarah's False Alarm informed.

The griping continued even as Sarah gave up on the griping between the Alarms and hastened her steps to make her way through the lanes of what proved to be a large maze.

Sarah continued ignoring the False Alarms that streamed past as she relentlessly moved.

"…a pit of poison spikes with nasty snakes…"

"…animated feathers will tickle you to…"

"…turned into a Newt, and you won't get better…"

"…you will be buried in limburger cheese…"

"…a rabbit with a vicious streak a mile…"

"…did she reach lane 24 yet?"

"…you will be bitten by a moose…"

"…noooo, you don't want lane 666…"

An entire hour passed. Still, she rushed through endless lanes and had ignored countless False Alarms. She had hoped to hear Ludo's voice at some point, but no such familiar moans, or the crying out of her name, could be heard from her large, hairy friend.

She had, of course, assumed that she needed to go inward, seeing as how there was supposed to be a Palace at the center.

Fifteen minutes into the new hour, she suddenly stopped, wiping sweat from her brow…and then looked down.

A glow now emanated from the shoes she wore.

It never occurred to her that it would ever become feasible to do it, but this was clearly a figment from her memory of telling the story of _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz _to her young "fanbase" at the library.

Sarah clicked the heels of the Silver Shoes three times, closing her eyes before doing so, and filling her mind with the Palace she had seen at the maze's center.

When her eyes opened, Sarah was right in front of the Palace's entrance.

Sarah smiled, and took a step forward…

…and then, the large double doors of the Palace opened, but just enough for a single, slim, short-haired young woman to step out, humming a sweet tune. She was dressed in a full green and white maid outfit, and she wore a pair of glasses. In her hand was a feather-duster.

Sarah cleared her throat loudly in an effort to get the maid's attention. Fortunately, the maid caught the noise and turned to her.

"Oh! Hello!" The maid smiled as she took a couple of steps toward Sarah. "Welcome. I'm the Maid Who Was In The Book, But Not In The Movie…but you can call me…"

"Jellia Jamb?" Sarah guessed, smiling.

Jellia sighed in relief, and punctuated her statement with the pump of a fist. "YES! Someone who KNOWS!" She then looked back to Sarah. "I'm sorry…were you looking for the Wizard?"

Sarah hesitated before answering, wondering if this Wizard would have Jareth's hair. And face. And crystals. Nevertheless, she felt like she needed to play along. Especially since she now had less than three hours left. "Uh…yes, I am."

Jellia then turned and pulled the thick, heavy doors to the Palace wide open. She then made a flourish to the green-tinted hallway within, smiling wide.

Sarah stepped towards what looked like a large dais, and she expected a large, illusory image of Jareth's head to flicker to life in front of her. Already, she was trying to spot where the transmission device could be, hoping she could expose Jareth before he started transmitting.

Nothing.

It was just a green-hued dais.

It was then that Sarah heard the clacking of shoes behind her, along with Jellia's voice. "Oh wait! Wait! Almost forgot!"

When Sarah spun to face her, she saw that the Maid was waving something that she had in the fingertips of her right hand. Once she reached Sarah, Jellia offered the item…a ticket…to the curious young woman. "You'll need this." She then hurried away. "Have fun!" Jellia called out as she left the room.

Sarah immediately looked at the ticket, which only said the words "Admit One".

Jellia was now pulling the doors shut behind her, and they came together with a loud BOOM. Coming up the opposite stairs of the dais now was a pair of very well-dressed gentlemen, both of whom were wearing masquerade ball masks.

She was now drawn to these two men, stepping up the stairs of the dais towards them. Through the eyeholes of their masks…one with a smiling face, the other with a sad face…human-looking eyes were centered on Sarah as she approached.

Once she was within arm's reach, one of the men took the ticket, after which the two men whirled around to face the opposite direction, placing one of their white-gloved hands on Sarah's shoulders. The two men led Sarah down to a pair of double doors concealed from view by the dais.

As Sarah came upon these doors, the two men stepped forward, moving in front of her…

…and opened these two doors for what would be the next guest of the lavish Masquerade Ball being thrown by the Lady Vestrie. Sarah expected the Ball gown she wore during Jareth's party to shimmer in and replace her outfit…

…but it _didn't._


	12. Chapter 12: Vestrie's Ride

The surroundings looked entirely familiar to Sarah, although it was larger, and twice as lavish as the masquerade ball Jareth had tried to entrance her with during that first foray into the Goblin King's world. The costumes, suits, and gowns here were also incredibly beautiful, and compared to the frumpy and plain outfit Sarah wore, it made her feel terribly out of place. It made her feel so _ordinary_. Unspectacular. She felt like she was crashing a party and she'd be thrown out in mere moments.

But everyone here was too busy dancing, socializing, and pirouetting in each other's arms to care much for this...thing...that had been brought among them. Sarah began to think about what Jareth had said in his prior musings on the faux yellow brick road. About how what Sarah was going through may not be a labyrinth at all.

Sarah could have said the same thing about her experiences in the first masquerade ball, though, and that all turned out to be a grand tempt on the part of the handsome scoundrel Jareth turned out to be. That illusory spectacle had turned out to be the work of an enchanted peach, as well.

The scents, the sights, the exquisite gowns, the intricate masquerade masks...there even seemed to be a glitter in the air which was making her feel a bit light-headed as she wandered through the _huge _ballroom beyond the entrance doors.. Not one face, nor any one voice, looked nor sounded familiar to her. One masculine presence, however, _did _have his eyes on Sarah, but this person made no attempt to approach, nor did he make any manner of gesture.

It became hard for Sarah to focus her vision in any case, for the world seemed to waver in her gaze as the music took on a deliriously beautiful tone. Choral undertones, strings, harps...all of it blending in an irresistably infectious melody. No one even came forward to request a dance.

She felt completely alone, in a crowd full of beautiful people.

She noticed, too, that they all had ears that pointed straight up. They were all elven in nature, tall and magnificent in their haughty presences. Those few who did chance a look at this mere mortal in the unspectacular clothes seemed to regard her as a kind of non-person. A gnat that had come into their perfect midst. An unwelcome intruder. None, however, seemed to mention her at all in their spoken musings, and none of the names they had brought up in their conversations sounded at all familiar to Sarah.

So why was she invited to this at all? Was there some puzzle deep within this fabric? Something she was missing?

Sarah looked around, now, for the one person that had lingered a gaze upon her. She remembered this one to wear a mask with a long beak that went straight down to his chest. He wore a tricorn hat as well. She couldn't help but wonder if this was another illusion hiding Jareth, once again treating her quarry to another, far larger and more lavish, masquerade ball.

Despite the scents and the glitter that was clearly affecting her vision and her senses now, she tried moving towards this person, who was _still _gazing upon her curiously. When she moved, however, it was in a bit of a stagger. She had to blink a few times in the effort to keep her eyes open. She was now fighting a blur on the outer edges of her vision.

Just as she came close enough for this person to be able to hear her speak, however, slender hands snaked in front of her from behind, and the scent of an intoxicating floral perfume filled her nostrils. She then heard a familiar voice whisper gently into her ear, which began to wiggle and tingle at the very sound of her words.

"Let's not disturb the High Chamberlain at the moment, little one."

It was the blond she saw at the side of the yellow road after she had decked Jareth. The one who had clearly threatened her for what she had done. The one who informed her that she had been docked precious hours.

Sarah was never this close, however, to the impossibly beautiful elven woman, and the collared mortal could tell without even looking at her that she was wearing something different as she pulled Sarah back, and onto the floor. As she did, she was approached by one of the men who had brought Sarah into the Ballroom. "Lady Vestrie, the terrace is ready for you and your guest."

Without another word, the man walked away after being given a casual wave-off by Vestrie. The elven noblewoman's voice now switched to the other ear, and she whispered into it as before, with the same wiggling and tingling sensation resulting. "Enjoying my little party, mortal?"

Vestrie then stepped in front of the young woman, placing her forehead to Sarah's, whose eyes locked on Vestrie's own hypnotic, sky-blue orbs as they began to move about the floor in a rhythmic fashion. "It's for _you_." Vestrie then revealed.

"Me?" Sarah meekly whispered, as she felt herself begin to lightly perspire.

"Feels _horrible_, doesn't it? To feel so plain. So _insignificant_." Vestrie kept moving her around, moving her slowly as the other elven dancers whirled around her, laughing and gibbering. The noblewoman continued to speak slowly. "You don't know anyone here...do you? And yet...you were invited. Not by Jareth...but by _me._"

Sarah's hair began to feel damp now. "W...why...?"

Vestrie then flashed the mortal a flawless smile. "So we can talk, dear. I know how you're feeling right now. How..._extreme_ this environment must feel to you, and the only reason you're feeling this way...is because you quite simply do not belong here. Among us."

Sarah found it difficult now to follow the words Vestrie was speaking as she now guided her quarry across the floor to an open gate leading to an outside terrace. The pressure in Sarah's ears was starting to build. Why was she feeling so weird all of a sudden? Was it the sparklings in the air? The scents she could not place? What was happening to her?

Passing through the gates and away from the Ballroom floor, a more fragrant scent helped to clear some of the disorientation in Sarah's senses, although she still felt entirely strange. Her hair was a little more moist now as Sarah clung to Vestrie in the effort to stay upright. Her clothes also felt damp from all the perspiration she had been generating throughout the hypnotic experience she was trying to endure on the Ballroom floor, and she felt a chill run through her from the gentle breeze within the beautiful terrace she had been brought into.

From behind Sarah, the feel of soft, warm cloth began to move up along her arms, and when she looked down, she saw that Vestrie was slipping a long white robe onto her. Wrapping a thick leather belt around her waist, Vestrie concealed every inch of Sarah's body in the robe save for her hands and her head. The disoriented mortal also found the opportunity to kick off the silver shoes she had been wearing, giving her feet a much-needed reprieve from all the walking.

"Now..." Vestrie sharply clicked her fingers twice in emphasis. "...settle down upon me, that's my good girl."

She was feeling far too weird to resist. If she had felt as normal as she did with Jareth walking beside her, she'd use this moment to slam her fist into Vestrie's face as well...but with her senses struggling to make sense of what was going on with her, she could only do as she had been asked, and she had slowly settled herself right into the elven noblewoman's lap.

Sarah felt Vestrie's hands run through her now entirely moist hair, perhaps playing or styling with it as Sarah stared forward. Her body was shaking a bit now, the pressure in her ears seeming to move down to begin filling her feminine frame beneath the robe. Her body now felt tense as Vestrie began to speak.

"Do you know what a _changeling _is, little one?" Vestrie asked.

"Ch...children..." Sarah shuddered from another chill, and she wiped sweat from her brow before continuing. "...t...taken by fff...faeries..."

"Potentially risky business, but…sometimes, we just get so attached to some of you mortals. We just can't let you go, so we have you replaced with one of our own undesirables, while the mortal becomes…well…one of our playthings." Vestrie responded. "But that is more of an Unseelie thing these days, mortal. Children are dreamers. Innocent. Untainted. Far more willing to accept that our kind could exist." Vestrie now began running a brush, slowly, through Sarah's moistened hair. "Dreamers make us strong. Their belief, occasionally maintained through your culture, keeps the fae folk prosperous. It's...not as strong as it used to be, of course, but...as you can see, we manage our secret little life. A life not meant for mortals as…old…as you."

The manner in which Vestrie was brushing Sarah's hair seemed odd now. She was brushing up, and then back, on both sides, and her hair seemed to be responding to it in kind as Vestrie continued to explain. "Our Seelie Court cherishes the young. Never wants to see them come to harm. We even fight for them. Eventually, however..." Vestrie then placed the brush down on one of the handrests of the seat she had settled into. "...a terrible thing happens to those precious young mortals of which we're so fond. _They grow up_. They get older. Lines form in their skin. Their hair turns gray. They may even get larger. Lethargic. _Pathetic_. Some of them...too many of them, in fact...get _violent_." Vestrie then wrapped her arms around Sarah from behind and pulled her in close to speak gently into her ear again. "You have no idea how much damage a grown-up can do to a child. They don't even have to lay a hand on them to ruin their potential to be beautiful dreamers. All they need to do is to tell them we don't exist. That we're...what do you call them? _Fairy tales_. All those stories of elves and dragons, nothing more than a mundane little exercise in morality to last them until some banal curmudgeon…usually a parent…demands for them to 'grow up'."

Sarah hung her head forward now. She was feeling more tension in her body now. Her breathing was a little more heavy as Vestrie stroked gently at her moist hair. "Then you just shove all those nasty beliefs into their precious little minds. Convince them that they could find happiness not in the beliefs that really _do _interest them, but the beliefs of a single, silly book. Or you ask them to choose between an elephant and a donkey, and expect them to follow that animal wherever it may go. Well, Sarah...I can think of better animals for old mortals like you to follow."

Sarah then heard the sound of hooves upon the soil ahead of her and Vestrie as the elven noblewoman gestured forward. Sarah's shaking head angled up to pay witness to whatever was trotting in.

Through the pure green foliage ahead, a single large white horse stepped into view. This horse, however, had a tuft of hair beneath its chin, very much like a goatee, and a spiraled horn emerged from the beautiful white-furred beast's forehead.

A _unicorn!_

Sarah had never, _ever_ seen such a thing before. She could not help but be completely fascinated as her eyes widened. The equine creature trotted up close to Sarah, looking curiously upon her.

"Her name is Jezebel." Vestrie noted. "She is one of my loyal steeds. I love unicorns, Sarah, because I know they do not exist in your world. They only exist in ours." Vestrie leaned forward to hiss right into Sarah's wiggling ear. "They don't _like _your world, Sarah. Too many animals lose their lives in your world. Just so you can eat. Find warmth. Or whatever other excuses your kind comes up with, if not for the worst reason in _any _world. For the _sport _of it." As Jezebel then turned and trotted right back into the foliage, disappearing entirely, Vestrie's fingers then began to stroke at Sarah's chin, where a small tuft of white hair had formed. "Jezebel likes you, though. She knows you're not like that, and I believe her. In fact, you're one of the few real dreamers among the rank and file of human adults...and if you had not crossed the affections of a Seelie...myself, specifically...I might have actually grown to honor your humanity, little one. Up."

Once again, Vestrie clicked her fingers twice, and Sarah felt the urge to rise at this sound despite herself. It had become a part of her instinct by now. The two clicks of Vestrie's fingers would always draw her attention, and command obedience of Vestrie's word.

Sarah felt a little less disoriented now, but that didn't make her feel any less peculiar. Her hair felt strange. Her ears felt strange. Her body, in all its tenseness, felt strange...and when she rose, she felt like she was standing on the tips of her toes. Behind her, Vestrie rose from her seat, bringing her long, slender arms around her guest once again, this time undoing the belt she had fastened around Sarah's waist, keeping the long white robe closed around her.

And once again, Vestrie spoke softly into Sarah's wiggling ear from behind. "But I don't expect you to apologize for the inescapable folly of grown humans, my sweet. No..." Vestrie then placed her hands on the edges of Sarah's white robe. "...I expect you to _run!_"

Vestrie then pulled open the robe and dropped it to the floor, revealing Sarah's more heavily-toned and..._somewhat_ human form. Although the sensitive areas of her breast and the area between her legs were concealed by brown leather, Sarah noticed that her upper thighs were now larger, and her legs had become digitigrade, the numb lower portions of which had become equine hooves, much to Sarah's wide-eyed shock. Her hands felt normal, but she noticed she was now wearing a pair of gloves that gave her hands the appearance of front hooves, and they were strapped to her wrists with brown leather bands.

"Wh...what are y...you doing t...to mmme?" Sarah stammered, now quite frightened and breathing shaky breaths.

"What's the matter, Sarah? I felt your rush of awe when I showed you Jezebel. A real, live unicorn. Just like all the unicorns you used to dream about as a little girl. You were a very special little dreamer, too." Vestrie then reached a hand down to run it over another alteration the elven noblewoman had added. A long, thick tuft of soft black hair emerging from the end of her posterior, running through a hole in the leather covering at her waist. "Don't you want to run with her? On four legs?"

Sarah gasped at the feel of whatever Vestrie was now touching, her eyes boggling. "Wha...! What's...what's _that _I'm feeling...?"

"Shhhh...relax, my beloved Sarah." Vestrie cooed in the frightened young woman's ear. "That's your _tail_."

Vestrie then placed a finger to her lips, giving it a kiss, and then placed this finger at Sarah's forehead gently. Slowly pulling it away from the human woman's forehead, a spiraling horn grew out from the bone of Sarah's skull.

Sarah just stared at this added detail, her eyes locked on it in a mixture of horror and...fascination. She didn't need to look in a mirror to see that her ears were now perhaps longer, and stuck straight up. She knew she had a tail, and the legs of a horse. She had black gloves on that gave her front hooves, but Sarah knew Vestrie could remove the gloves and easily turn her hands into _real_ hooves.

And in this incredible moment, which was entirely and inescapably real, she couldn't tell what she wanted more. To run free as the unicorn she was obviously being changed into, or to try and somehow break away from this fate and finish the rest of Jareth's labyrinth. She already felt responsive to the whims of this blond elf noble given the infectious clicks of her fingers, and she now felt compelled to respond to her next open command as the woman suddenly straddled upon Sarah's back, forcing the partially equine woman to drop forward upon her hoof-gloves.

It was then that Vestrie applied what looked to be a finishing touch, hanging it over her face, placing an "o" attachment through her horn and then fastening it to her face: It was a plush white horse muzzle mask, with only eyeholes for Sarah to see through. A thin metal bar at the mouth area inside the muzzle area of the mask pressed against the scared woman's own mouth. Once again, Sarah heard the clicks of Vestrie's fingers. "Ah, ah...open wide, Sarah. Bite down on it."

The mask felt more comfy once Sarah complied. The weight of Vestrie's body was surprisingly manageable, this seeming obvious for the fact that her body had perhaps been strengthened to serve as an adequate beast of burden.

Sarah then felt more compelled to run. Run, at the command of the Lady Vestrie. Carry her wherever she wanted to go. Sarah was at least thankful that she wasn't making equine noises...but that might also change given Vestrie's wants, which she was helpless to resist at this point.

And at the moment, that wouldn't feel so bad.

"Now RUN, Sarah!" Vestrie commanded, accompanied by another two of those infectious clicks of her fingers. "GO, my steed!"

Sarah burst forth, worrying it would feel awkward...but as she had been told, she just _ran _with it. Let herself _go _with it. A release. Sure enough, she carried herself forward adequately. She ran at a full, fast gallop as if she had been doing it all her life.

And she ran. Nothing but glorious, cathartic running. She felt her tail stream behind her. The fear began to diminish. She was _loving _this, as she ran ever faster. Carried by some urge inside her.

"GO, my new steed! I can _feel _how much you _want _this! _Faster _now!" Vestrie cried out, using the leather strap she had wrapped around Sarah's robe to steady herself on Sarah's back as she galloped as fast as she could. "You'll be a _wonderful _unicorn, Sarah!"

She rode long, and far. Nothing impeded her path. Even if she still felt like she was in a mask, it was all such a delirious thrill. She was a creature that didn't exist in her reality. She was galloping at such a perfect, balanced speed upon natural ground. Vestrie laughed aloud as Sarah kept her pace. She didn't dare look down, nor did she dare look upon her numbed hands. She just continued to stare forward, lost in Vestrie's spell.

She wanted the moment to last _forever_. No longer would she live an empty, hollow life. No longer would she need to worry about Jareth setting her up for a fall.

Or _was _Jareth setting her up? Was Jareth handing Sarah off to this elven noblewoman? Discarding her? Trading her, even? Perhaps the noblewoman was Jareth himself?

She didn't know.

And as she continued to gallop in her fascination, she didn't care.

That changed, however, when her right peripheral vision caught sight of a familiar presence. A black-robed man in a white, effeminate porcelain mask, who stood in a plain by a marble archway.

The moment her eyes caught sight of this, her human will surged, and in the next rise of her right front glove, it came up from under the horse mask and lifted it right off of her face, suddenly giving her the strength to stand upright, her human senses immediately returning to her as she ran on two legs towards the archway, and the mysterious masked man. As she rose to her two feet, Vestrie...taken completely by surprise by this sudden turnabout...stumbled off Sarah's back completely, crumpling violently to the ground in a tumble that would have normally broken a human's bones from the sudden impact with the ground.

Sarah also found that she was back in her labyrinth-bound clothes. The white blouse, the vest, the jeans. She felt the key in her pocket as well. Her hair was now normal, as were her legs, and the horn on her head was completely gone, as was her tail.

She was, however, moving on bare feet now as she ran forward. She didn't stop until she was right in front of the masked stranger. She was also terribly out of breath, and panted heavily.

"Who...who ARE you?" Sarah demanded.

After a moment of tense silence, the stranger suddenly burst to life, shoving Sarah aside and producing the same cold-bladed weapon he used to break Jareth's leash. He held it out towards the angry blond elf who rushed in and was within moments of casting a spell.

Vestrie stood frightened now, her eyes boggling at the sight of the Iron Winter Blade, the one weapon which, at the slightest nick or even a mere grasp of the blade itself, would instantaneously undo a fae. No matter how strong, no matter how weak.

Vestrie then looked at a surprised Sarah, and her horrified face lapsed into an evil grin.

Another two bewitching clicks from Vestrie's fingers. Sarah began to instinctively move to Vestrie, but the masked stranger's arm extended in front of Sarah, barring her way.

Vestrie then held up four slender fingers toward Sarah.

From Vestrie's lips were mouthed the words "Time's up".

Sarah's eyes boggled in horror as Vestrie swung out her arms, instantaneously assuming the form of a dove, which flew away quickly. An infectious and wicked giggle could be heard as the dove ascended to the skies and flew out of sight.

The masked stranger sheathed the strange dagger, and then calmly walked over to his spot next to the archway as Sarah sank to her knees in disbelief.

Four hours spent lost to Vestrie's spell. She could hardly believe it.

And yet, for some reason, the game didn't _feel_ like it was over.

She hoped it was just another cruel trick from Vestrie as she rose back up to her feet, and turned to the mysterious, masked stranger.

The stranger, however, held out a small black velvet pouch, which hung down from the masked man's gloved hand by its drawstring. He stood as still as a statue, not making a single move, nor did he make a single sound. The eyes in the eyesockets didn't even blink.

Stepping up slowly to the stranger, who was clearly holding the pouch out towards her, Sarah hesitantly made a grab for the pouch, which she was easily able to detach from his gloved hand.

The pouch felt empty, but when she tried to open the pouch, she found that it stretched open wider than it should have, the rest of the pouch becoming longer in length. She also felt a bit of weight now on this larger pouch, which had become more like a small black velvet bag. Rummaging a hand into the space within the pouch revealed the touch of a hard felt surface. Getting a handhold, Sarah pulled out the item...

...and revealed one-half of a pair of knee-high felt boots of Renaissance-era design. Trying it on confirmed her suspicion: it fit perfectly, and she was able to pull another one from the bag for her other foot. They felt quite comfy once she secured them over her lower legs and laced them up tight.

As she rose back up to her now boot-clad feet, she wondered if this stroke of luck...on the part of a masked stranger which, for the moment, she regarded as a friend...was a kind gesture too late for her to take advantage of, given what had been revealed by Vestrie.

She had to at least ask. "Um...hello, whatever your name is..." Sarah began. "...you wouldn't happen to know how many hours I..."

The stranger's black-gloved right hand held up three fingers.

Sarah blinked in recognition of this revelation. "...I...I have three hours left?"

The masked stranger nodded once.

Sarah heaved a sigh of relief. Still...as a consequence of Vestrie and her enchantments, precious hours were now wasted, and the mortal woman had no way of knowing how much farther she needed to go to finish this blasted labyrinth.

Her black-robed benefactor then flourished to the archway next to him, and the inky blackness within the archway dissolved, revealing a completely different area. One which had a distinct emanation of heat which Sarah could feel in the archway's close vicinity.

And, finally, from within the archway, she finally heard his growling voice once again. Much closer this time.

"Ssssaaaaawwaaaaaaaahhh..."

Sarah gasped. "Ludo..."

She took a step or two towards the archway...but then, she looked to the masked stranger.

"You, uh...don't talk much, do you?" She asked.

The stranger just stood there. Unmoving. Once again, he resembled a statue.

Sarah nodded. "Right, well...uh...thank you. Y' know...for these." She indicated her new footwear. "Oh...and for helping me...get away from, you know, Jareth." Sarah couldn't help but blush now. "Y' know, that, uh...knife...thing you did."

With no reply coming from the masked stranger, Sarah finally stepped through the archway to continue her progress at long last.


	13. Chapter 13: Scales of Affection

Sarah's pace hastened significantly through the rocky path beyond the archway…an area entirely different from the grassy plains she had left behind her…and the rising of the heat did nothing to slow her advance.

This was because she finally heard familiar voices, and the path seemed to be leading right to them.

"How far dost thou believe Ludo to have gone by now, Sir Hoggle?" came the voice that was unmistakably Sir Didymus.

"I wish you would stop calling me 'Sir'!" came Hoggle's unmistakable voice, and a lump seemed to form in Sarah's throat to know that her very first companion, from her foray through Jareth's first labyrinth, was still alive after twenty years. What she had heard from Sir Didymus, however, troubled Sarah now. Ludo was not there? But…she had _heard _her large, furry friend from within the archway, and he sounded _close!_

The path started to get a little more humid, and Sarah heard a low rumble as she ran up a slight incline in the rock path. The path ended right at the edge, and went no further. Stepping carefully to the end of this edge, she instinctively looked in the direction of where she felt the heat, which was straight down.

And there they were.

Each of them…Sir Didymus, with a very exhausted-looking Ambrosius right next to him, and Hoggle, all three of which looked no different than when Sarah first met them twenty years ago…were trapped on small rock platforms that seemed to hover precariously above a rush of glowing lava not too far below them.

Sarah took a moment to survey the area. There were other rock platforms around them, and they were spaced in such a manner as to prevent her trapped friends from leaping over to them.

Sarah, however, figured she could make those leaps.

But she would have to be unburdened in order to do so, so the option of picking them up and leaping them between the rock platforms was struck from consideration.

She had to figure something out fast. Ambrosius looked bad. Perhaps even parched from lack of water. No doubt the intense heat was getting to the beloved canine steed of Sir Didymus. It would be a matter of hours before he could begin to fade.

There was one thing, however, she had to know as she lowered to the surface of the slope and craned her head down towards her trapped friends. "HOGGLE!" She called out, as loud as she could.

Hoggle blinked, and then looked around, curiously.

Sir Didymus also heard the voice, and began looking around his position as well. "Someone _calls_ to thee?"

"Someone who actually got my _name_ right, too." Hoggle observed.

"HOGGLE!" Sarah called down again.

This time, both heads...Hoggle's, and that of Sir Didymus...angled upwards.

And saw Sarah Williams waving down at them, smiling.

"Who is _that?_" Hoggle asked.

"By the grace of the Goblin King!" Sir Didymus exclaimed. "Squire Ludo was _right! _The fair Lady Sarah hath _returned!_"

"_Sarah?_" Hoggle shot back, skeptically. "That _can't _be the same Sarah! She's too old!"

"It _is _me, Hoggle!" Sarah called down. "I'm gonna try and get you out of there! How's Ambrosius doing, Sir Didymus?"

"My faithful, somewhat-fearless steed suffers!" Sir Didymus replied, as Ambrosius weakly whimpered. "He is in dire need of sustenance! If he cannot be taken from our prison soon, he shall fade further!"

"Where's Ludo?" Sarah finally asked.

"He ran off!" Hoggle revealed.

"To find _thee_, good Lady!" Didymus noted, in a spirited tone. "For thou to have found us, I figured thou must have the good Squire _with_ thee!"

"Well, he's not!" Hoggle exclaimed. "Which means he just _ran off! _He got scared, just like all his silly rock 'friends'! You'd think he'd help us get off of _these _rocks! But _nooooo_...he just goes running off on a hunch!"

"He _did _find me, Hoggle!" Sarah exclaimed. "I heard him! He's been helping me!"

Hoggle then held out a grubby finger in emphasis of his next point, his tone harsh. "And _where is he NOW?_"

Sarah sighed, after a moment of thought. "I wish I knew..." She quietly spoke to herself.

A thought then occurred to her. If Ludo _did _abandon his friends to look for her, she could try an open appeal in the event that the horned giant was anywhere nearby. A part of her also wanted to try a gambit. An effort to possibly see if the Goblin King would personally intervene out of any manner of sympathy for Sarah Williams.

Conveniently, there were small, flat platforms she could leap along until she could find herself on one of the rock platforms that hovered over the lava. Without another word, she went to the one closest to the slope.

"What are you doing _now_, silly girl?" Hoggle called out, seeing Sarah progress along the platform path, leaping easily between them.

"Forsooth! This is _not _wise, fair Lady Sarah!" Sir Didymus exclaimed. "The heat is _most _unpleasant!"

Finally, Sarah made it to one of the unoccupied rock platforms hovering over the lava. She had to move quickly, as she found that the rock platforms she had used past the first were unstable, and they crumbled down to the lava pool the moment she leapt off of them. The heat was heavy here, as she suspected. Regardless, she had to rest her hopes on the possibility that someone...preferably Ludo...would hear her, and he could make use of his unusual ability to attune with the rocks to get all of them out of this predicament.

She would otherwise be trapped, and would obviously die alongside her friends.

"LUDOOOO!" Sarah then called out. "I _know _you're looking for me! I'm _here!_"

"Scream all you want!" Hoggle griped aloud. "He's _far _from..."

"_SHHH_!" Sarah then hissed to Hoggle.

A tense silence followed. All they could hear was the bubbling of the lava below, and the faint rumbling around them. Sarah's body went damp from her perspiration, and she had to wipe the sweat beads from her brow as she waited.

"LUDOOOOO!" Sarah called again. "I'm _here! _I know you were here, too! I know you went to look for me...and I know you've been helping me!"

Silence again followed. After a good five minutes had passed, Sarah sighed, hanging her head in despair. Hoggle also drooped his head.

Sir Didymus started to lower his own...but he was the first to see a horned head atop a large, hairy body step over to the opposite side of the lava stream. Sarah and Hoggle also heard the large humanoid's heavy footsteps, and their eyes boggled when they finally saw the imposing, but gentle giant. His head, too, had drooped down.

"Sowwwy..." Ludo began, in a mournful tone. "...Sawah gone."

Upon finally spotting her hairy friend, Sarah began to choke up in the swell of emotion, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. Her voice shook as she tried to call out. "Ludo..."

Ludo's head slowly rose...and his eyes finally locked on the young woman he was determined to find.

"...Sarah _here!_" She cried out, wiping tears from her eyes.

Ludo's eyes went wide, and he shot a clawed finger out to her. "SAAAWAAAHHH!"

"Verily! Thy instinct hath served thee well, Squire Ludo!" Didymus exclaimed.

"Ludo...you need to get the rock with Sir Didymus to you, okay?" Sarah called out, swallowing the lump in her throat and getting back to business.

Didymus, however, suddenly lit up with fear. "NO! WAIT! CEASE! CEASE! STAY THY WILL, SQUIRE!"

Ludo's head tilted to the side in curiosity.

Sarah also turned to Didymus curiously. "Don't you want to get Ambrosius to safety?"

"Ludo hath _tried _thy want already, milady!" Didymus explained. "But this confounded rock only seems to go in but one direction!"

"Down." Hoggle added. "Just like _mine_. I found _that _out when Ludo got his rock to the edge, and ran off!"

"Wocks _wike_ wava." Ludo then noted.

Sarah began to think now. "Would you be able to tell us...which of these rocks _don't _like the lava?"

But Ludo shrugged at this.

A glance at Ambrosius compelled Sarah to think fast. "Ludo...check each of these rocks. Find out which direction they want to move."

"We tried that too!" Hoggle then exclaimed. "I nearly fell off this thing when he tried that!"

"Which rock did he try to move, Hoggle?" Sarah then asked.

Hoggle pointed to the rock platform, which was two jumps from Sarah's own platform. "Which direction did it go?" Sarah then asked.

"It went _up_!" Sir Didymus revealed.

Sarah frowned, making a guess at the mechanics of this obvious challenge.

"Scales?" She quietly said to herself, in her contemplation. She then looked to Sir Didymus. "Did he try any of the other rocks?"

Ludo then pointed to another unoccupied rock. "Wock _baaaad._"

Sarah turned to Ludo now. "Why?"

"Knight wock go _down_." Ludo revealed.

"And that rock went up?" She asked Hoggle.

The dwarf nodded, confirming that this _was _a game of Scales.

Sarah figured it would take five good leaps to get to the rock Ludo indicated. She knew Hoggle didn't have the legs to jump to this platform, so she knew if anyone was going to be the guinea pig of this experiment, it had to be her.

She just hoped she could hold out long enough.

She began leaping towards the rock Ludo indicated, much to the alarm of the others. Ludo's jaw dropped. "NOOO! WOCK _BAAAD!_"

"Is this lava bed cooking your _mind?_" Hoggle cried out.

"_Cease _this insanity at once! Thou art a _Lady!_" Didymus protested aloud.

Sarah ignored them all. Once she cast herself towards the last rock, she miscalculated her jump and found herself hanging precariously to the side of the hovering rock platform. Fortunately, she was able to find two good handholds in the rock and she hefted herself onto the surface.

Sarah then looked to her large, hairy friend. "Try it now, Ludo."

Ludo's growling voice now sounded fearful. "But...wock _burn!_"

"Bring it down _slowly_, then!" Sarah reasoned. "You can do that, can't you?"

It took a moment for the _very _hesitant Ludo to nod in confirmation at this.

"Do it, then." Sarah then remarked, with conviction. "I'm ready."

"_Slowly_, Ludo!" Hoggle reminded.

After a moment of considerable hesitation, Ludo brought both of his large, clawed hands out towards Sarah's rock, and let out a low moan. Sarah's rock began to move down towards the lava, the heat becoming more intense as she lowered...

...and the rock upon which Sir Didymus and Ambrosius was stranded suddenly began to rise. It also moved close enough to the edge for both Didymus and a _very _weak Ambrosius to step off the platform at long last, joining Ludo on the safe side.

Sarah, on the other hand, was dangerously close to the lava, and her eyes squinted in her effort to withstand the intense waves of heat that were now in close vicinity to the hovering platform. Her head throbbed from the intensity, and she felt like she was on the verge of passing out completely.

But then, her platform began to rise once more. Her clothes looked as if they were steaming from the intense heat, and she gasped for air the moment the platform restored to its previous elevation.

She couldn't say a word in that moment. She needed a few moments to recover. Perhaps even more than that.

Sarah, however, had one more friend to save. She carefully rose to her feet. She still had strength in her, but not as much as before.

But she could still at least leap, and she hopped along the platforms, battling her own heat exhaustion, and she finally made it to the platform Hoggle indicated would go up if his platform were to be affected by Ludo's power.

Hoggle had also noticed, as Sarah's platform sank, that the other platforms...including his own...had shifted positions. If Sarah's current platform were lowered, Hoggle could easily make it to the safe end.

"Sarah..." Hoggle quietly pleaded. "..._leave _me. Don't do this! Come on...I _betrayed _you once! You don't remember the _peach?_"

"You were afraid, Hoggle." Sarah reasoned, wiping more sweat from her brow. "You said it yourself."

"Well...doing this once, I can understand." Hoggle protested. "But _twice?_"

Sarah smiled. "You're worth it, Hoggle." She then looked to Ludo. "GO, Ludo."

Again, Ludo moaned. Again, Sarah sank. This time, Sarah lowered to one knee, holding her arms and closing her eyes. She also held her breath, as she did before, to keep from breathing in the fumes emanating from the lava bed. The heat intensified once more...

...while Hoggle, finally close enough to hop to safety, made the necessary leap, and found soft ground.

When Sarah's rock came up, however, shock registered on the faces of all four of Sarah's friends.

Sarah Williams had finally passed out on the rock.

"Oh no!" Didymus whined. "The heat hath _claimed_ her!"

"Even if she _does _come to," Hoggle lamented. "She won't have the strength to jump those rocks."

Ludo just stared, no doubt in disbelief, at this terrible consequence. His large body trembled.

Ludo then began to moan. Quietly, and seemingly in a tone of mourning.

But the volume of this moan began to rise. The sustained growl now sounded angry. Defiant. The palms of both his large hands now faced the skies, the digits curled inward. Once Ludo's moan ran out of breath, Ludo breathed in heavily, gathering his will for one more defiant surge of his power.

And when Ludo finally growled out his next moan, it was louder..._much _louder...and it was less of a moan and more of a _roar. _His hands rose slowly as he roared out.

As Hoggle and Didymus watched, the other rock platforms seemed to lose their ability to hover, and they plummeted to the lava below. Only one rock platform remained, and this rock...upon which was the unconscious body of Sarah Williams...also began to move. It drifted slowly, seeming to fight this sudden surge of raw will, but Ludo's hold was too strong given his swell of emotion. The quaking rock moved very slowly.

Eventually, it hovered over the safe end.

The rock platform then slowly inverted itself, and eventually spilled Sarah's motionless body to the soil close below. Hoggle and Didymus hurried right over to her as Ludo dropped to his hairy behind in exhaustion. The rock platform simply dropped to the ground and remained where it was.

Ambrosius even padded over to Sarah despite his condition. As Hoggle and Didymus attempted to rouse the young woman, Ambrosius tried to lick upon Sarah's cheeks with a dry tongue, hoping it would bring her out of her unconsciousness.

After a few moments, however, Ludo was back on his feet, and he tromped towards Sarah, easily scooping her into his arms. Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosius curiously followed the hairy giant.

A few minutes later, the warm climate became a little cooler, and much to the group's relief, they heard the sound of rushing water. Ambrosius began to hasten his step, guided by the panting Sheepdog's canine senses.

The path forked into two directions. One northwest, one northeast. Ambrosius had dashed northeast.

But contrary to where Ambrosius went, Ludo was taking Sarah northwest.

"Where art thou taking the Lady, Squire?" Sir Didymus asked.

Ludo just angled his head towards the fox-like knight. "Waaaa-terrr." was his only response. "Sawah _hot_." He then resumed his slow progress.

"I shall see to Ambrosius, Sir Hoggle!" Sir Didymus remarked. "Thy vigil _must _be with the Lady Sarah!"

"For the thousandth time, Diddy." Hoggle griped. "I am not...repeat, _not_...a knight!" He then moved down the northeast path. "She'll be fine with Ludo. She doesn't need me."

Sir Didymus stood in place for a long moment, worried for whatever was bothering Hoggle about Sarah. Sighing, he stepped along the northeast path to join his steed at the clean, clear lake he was greedily lapping from.

Ludo had rested the lower half of her human frame in the water. The cool touch of the lake did not immediately rouse Sarah from her unconsciousness, though, and Ludo had moved to a grassy area near Sarah to take a much-needed nap.

When Sarah finally did stir, she immediately noticed that half her body, from the waist down, was submerged in a lake. Her senses slowly returning, she moved out of the water. Entirely parched after her lava ordeal, she rolled to her hands and knees at the edge of the lake, and began throwing cool water on her face, drenching her hair in the water in so doing. The water felt wonderful, and entirely rejuvenating. She moved her head down to sip right from the surface, gulping down whole mouthfuls.

Upon her third drink right from the lake, Sarah then heard a pair of fingers emit two clicks, close to where she was drinking.

Sarah froze, her head immediately coming up, and staring forward.

Vestrie smiled, looking down upon the young woman. "Back on all fours, I see." She mused. "Must feel pretty natural to you now..." The blond Seelie noblewoman then knelt down next to Sarah. "...doesn't it, my steed?"

"ENOUGH of that!"

Although Sarah could not move, the noblewoman's enchantment freezing her in place, she could hear and comprehend all that was about to transpire between the Lady Vestrie and the man who now walked into view on the opposite side of the lake.

Vestrie rose back up, maintaining her smile. "You know, Jareth...for someone you had intended to take as a mere trophy, you're showing an awful lot of fondness."

"I dislike what you are doing to her, Vestrie." Jareth calmly remarked. "It was touching of you to have made such a gesture the first time, but as you can see..."

"I can see why you like her as much as you do." Vestrie interrupted. "Even as a lowly adult, she's quite infectious. Jezebel doesn't like being around _any _humans, young or old." Vestrie then reached a right hand down to caress at Sarah's wet hair. "She made an exception with this one, though."

"I will not see Sarah Williams crawling on all fours like a beast, nor _as _one." Jareth firmly remarked.

Vestrie then giggled in a somewhat wicked manner. "That, my beloved, is no longer for you to decide."

Jareth lowered his head, his eyes closed, sighing in the realization of what he hoped was not true. "You marked her."

"See the logic behind my impulse, Goblin King." Vestrie explained. "You love me, and I very much love you. I was confident that Sarah was, in your own words, a momentary dalliance. Nothing you really cared very deeply for...but this apparent flame inside her had to be kindled by _some _manner of affection, yes? You need to ask yourself what my Sarah truly cares more for. You, or our world."

Jareth remained quiet at this, glancing at Sarah, who just stayed frozen in place, staring forward. She could still blink her eyes and breathe, but she couldn't do much else.

Vestrie continued after a moment of silent comprehension. "How could this mortal ever come to love someone who kidnapped a child, poisoned her with a peach, and then...twenty years later...bloated her in a rather disgusting manner? Oh...and let's not forget that solid right hook of hers. If her culture is any indication, a shot like that isn't a show of affection, Jareth."

"And you believe yourself to be any better?" Jareth arched an eyebrow. "You lied to her. Frightened her into thinking she had failed my labyrinth. For someone who found her attractive enough to mark..."

"I had my own reasons for marking this little one, Jareth." Vestrie again interrupted. "She loves unicorns as I do. She loved _being _one, and I didn't even transform her completely. I opened a door to her, Jareth. She raced...right...through it."

"By the clicking of your fingers." Jareth replied. "I think if I ever hear those fingers clicking again..."

"You are in a position to make no demands of me at all, beloved. At least, when it comes to my Sarah." Vestrie countered. "As I'm sure you're aware, there are only two ways of removing my mark. Death, or a permanent alteration." Vestrie then stepped towards Jareth, literally walking upon the surface of the lake until she was at its center. "Come now, my love. Can you not see I am doing this for _you? _For _us?_ Everyone goes away happy! I get you, you get me, and Sarah can stay with us both, always, loving her new life as I truly know she will."

"Yes." Jareth replied sardonically. "Pulling your chariot alongside Jezebel."

"I refuse to keep her human, Jareth." Vestrie's tone was now stern and contemptuous. "She may have a natural beauty to her, but she's old. When I look at her, I see every single child that has been lost to the more banal aspects of human culture. Children who have been lost to us. Permanently."

Jareth then smiled. "Now you, Vestrie, are lying to _me_." The Goblin King then walked upon the surface of the lake towards Vestrie. "This isn't about contempt for humans lost to inevitable adulthood." He stopped right in front of the Seelie noblewoman. "It's _jealousy_. Jealousy that I could find a mere human more beautiful not only in looks, but in spirit, than any of your ilk."

Now it was Vestrie who hesitated, but she couldn't let him see her show too much anger. Anger was weakness, as she had been taught. Jareth was of course right, but she wasn't about to openly admit it.

She instead decided to inflict a deeper wound in kind.

Vestrie moved in very close to Jareth, her lips nearly touching his. The Goblin King, however, did not change his expression, nor show any manner of reciprocation...but then, inches from Jareth's lips, she spoke again. When she did, one of her slender hands caressed his wild head of hair.

"Perhaps...I should confirm the rumors, Jareth?" She cooed, and then turned around to walk slowly towards Sarah. "Noooo...if I did that, Sarah's Goblin King wouldn't be my handsome Prince anymore, would he?"

Vestrie stopped next to Sarah and then spun around, lowering to one knee. She then spoke to the petrified human, whispering into her ear as Vestrie's eyes lingered on Jareth. "Truly, Sarah. Nothing is as it seems in the labyrinth. Not even _him_." She whispered one last thing into the young woman's ear, her voice light enough for only Sarah to hear. "_Suavis Sarah, mea unicornis. _I _know _you want this. I can _feel _it."

Vestrie then placed a gentle kiss on Sarah's cheek.

Rising to her feet, the blond Seelie noblewoman then blew a kiss to Jareth, and then fanned her arms out to her sides, assuming the form of a dove, and ascended to the skies, flying out of sight.

Sarah found herself mobile again upon the touch of Vestrie's lips, and the young woman slowly rose to her feet as Jareth approached her.

But Sarah's finger shot out to him. "Not one more step towards me. You just stay right where you are, Jareth."

Jareth stopped, still standing upon the lake's surface.

"What did you both mean when you said she had..._marked _me?" Sarah asked.

Jareth gave no immediate answer. The next moment was silent.

"You shouldn't be wasting time, Sarah." Jareth then intoned. "You have only two hours left." The Goblin King then turned and stepped away from Sarah.

"TELL ME!" Sarah demanded.

Jareth, however, continued to ignore her, stepping behind a tree on the opposite side of the lake. From behind the tree, a familiar-looking Owl fluttered into the skies.

As she saw Jareth ascend to the skies, she heard Ludo moaning out of his nap behind her.

"Oooooh..." Ludo growled. "...woooong sweeeep." Upon seeing Sarah on her feet, Ludo quickly rose to his feet and tromped over to her. She was staring forward, looking troubled.

A huge hand gently rested on her shoulder. "Sawah bet-ter?"

Sarah blinked, and then turned to Ludo. Her first instinct was to viciously snap over her misfortunes, but she couldn't do that to the gentle giant who had practically been her guardian angel since her trials in the new labyrinth began.

Her expression softened up enough to give her hairy friend a small smile. "Much."

Ludo brought her head closer to Sarah's. "Time _short_."

Sarah nodded. "Let's go get the others."


	14. Chap 14: All Champions Marked and Ready

The High Chamberlain stood in quiet contemplation upon the lake bridge at the Golden Lane. He clearly spotted Sarah Williams, the Champion of the Labyrinth, at the Lady Vestrie's social, but Vestrie had always filled her lavish ballroom locales with mild glamour. To those of the fae folk, this was nothing more than a buzz to keep spirits festive. The glamour, however, would have a far more dramatic effect upon a mortal. Only by marking the mortal would the aboveground denizen be saved from the very real danger presented by prolonged exposure to the glamour effect.

Technically, Vestrie had saved Sarah's life, for if she hadn't intervened and marked the young woman, Sarah would have died from the seizure that would inevitably follow. Essentially, the mark was the personalization of a direct enchantment, much like fairies had done with select young children countless years ago, marking their foreheads in their sleep. Vestrie's raw glamour in the ballroom, which had filled Sarah's human frame and threatened her with an eventual heart attack, needed direction. Purpose. Vestrie gave her that purpose in her partial alteration of Sarah's body, the infectious clicks of Vestrie's fingers sealing the mark.

Having been marked, the High Chamberlain now knew that Sarah could be subject to any of Vestrie's whims, and he knew Vestrie to be contemptuous of mortals that age beyond their youthful and innocent years. Beasts, she had told him at one of her past socials. Beasts to be put in their place for all the pain they bring to the young. The High Chamberlain had learned of what Jareth once did to Sarah with the hallucinatory peach, but this was not a direct enchantment straight from Jareth's hands and as such, no mark had been laid upon the young human girl.

Vestrie obviously knew this.

As bad...or in this case, as possessive...as Vestrie could be, however, the Prince Angaron had a far shorter fuse. The High Chamberlain wondered if he even knew his wife was stalking around Jareth's new labyrinth.

The chance to ask him came sooner than he thought, for as he stood upon the lake bridge, his peripheral vision caught sight of someone taking angry steps towards him, and he didn't even need to turn to him to know it was Angaron.

Again.

The High Chamberlain looked to the clear blue skies as Angaron came close enough to be heard. "Someday, I shall find the invisible magnet that draws you to me," He then looked to Angaron. "and destroy it."

"As if you had anything _better _to do, High Chamberlain." Angaron sneered. "I'm afraid what I have to report this time is quite serious."

"A _legitimate claim?_" The High Chamberlain mused. "A torrential downpour is more likely in the Golden Lane compared to such a thing from someone like you." The Chamberlain then brought his hand up to check for raindrops in emphasis of this point.

Angaron frowned. "I had been commissioned by a Grand Duke to craft a keepsake bearing signature affection! I had only recently completed it, and now it's _gone!_ It was a _legitimate request _from a legitimate noble of very high standing among the Seelie. I am within my rights to have you personally investigate the matter! Or would you prefer that I inform the Grand Duke of your apparent disinterest? I'd hate to see an old friend lose a station he has held for a great many glorious suns and moons!"

The High Chamberlain sighed in disgust. Angaron's tone gave no indication of a fabrication, and even if it was, he would need to investigate the situation in any case. To be a Seelie among the highborn folk of the inhumanly beautiful Sidhe race, whose fae blood he shared with Angaron and Vestrie, he was bound to show honor and in his case, that honor meant looking into any manner of injustice. As High Chamberlain, he was essentially judge, jury, and if the crime was exceptionally dire, executioner.

The frowning High Chamberlain slowly turned to Angaron. "Tell me _exactly_ what this 'keepsake' looked like."

* * *

The High Chamberlain's preliminary investigations, owing to what Angaron had told him, proved that this was indeed a serious case. The "keepsake" was meant to bring a Sidhe female out of a terrible misfortune. One that threatened to undo her completely. Feelings of love and affection were the best possible healing for an ailing Sidhe, after all, and this Sidhe female was entirely unaware that her childhood friend...who was now a Grand Duke...nurtured deep, but ultimately unspoken feelings of love for her.

The sullen Sidhe female was practically bedridden from her ailment. No doubt by virtue of a death or perhaps an unmaking. To be unmade meant that feelings of sorrow and despair were so strong that the very physical fabric of the Sidhe would wither and fade.

The High Chamberlain had discovered that the ultimately unmade Sidhe that the female was suffering over was one that the female desired greatly, unaware that this potential suitor actually carried a torch for the Lady Vestrie. He was soundly defeated in a private duel against Angaron, and his spirit never recovered from the blow.

The Chamberlain suggested that the Duke make a personal attempt to win the ailing female's attentions, but the Grand Duke refused. Not without the stolen keepsake, he had said. It had been designed exactly to the Duke's specifications, and he had planned to infuse it with enchantments of his own, just to bolster its impeccable craftsmanship and show this female that his affection for her ran very deep.

The High Chamberlain assured that the matter would be resolved in a matter of days.

It was the Grand Duke's hope that this female of which he was so fond...whose name was Genevienne...would hold out that long.

One thing the High Chamberlain held to during his investigation, no matter how much he wanted to speak to the Champion, was to personally penetrate Jareth's new labyrinth. Apparently, Vestrie briefly had a door in the labyrinth correspond to the doors of the ballroom where Vestrie's masquerade social was held, allowing for Sarah Williams to leave the labyrinth for a time and effectively endanger her life, but he couldn't make the first move with Sarah. Sarah had to speak with him about it, thereby making a personal claim he could potentially look into. He figured that if his gaze upon her lingered, she would become curious.

It almost worked were it not for Vestrie seizing her first, before she could say a single word to the High Chamberlain.

Most Seelie never dared to intrude upon any known Unseelie territory, and the labyrinth definitely qualified as this for all the goblins and the undesirables that inhabited it, and for their powerful and persuasive King as well. The High Chamberlain was one of these sorts, of course.

Vestrie, on the other hand...

* * *

Although Ambrosius could never possibly drain an entire lake, the thirsty Sheepdog nevertheless drank quite thoroughly from the larger lake that Sir Didymus and Hoggle had similarly refreshed themselves at. Hoggle even went so far as to remove his outfit and lounge himself partially within the lake's waters. For once, the grumpy dwarf looked contented.

Sir Didymus, on the other hand, needed only a good long drink. As a knight, his ever-constant sense of duty kept him from any urge to waste too much time, and he stood near where Hoggle was lounging in a bit of a huff.

"Hast thou claimed this lake for thy own, Sir Hoggle?" Didymus mused. "Hast thou shirked thy duty?"

"Duty? My 'duty' is to watch out for three things in life, Diddy. Me, myself, and I." Hoggle responded. "I think I'm well and truly settled here, thank you very much."

"You sure look comfy, Hoggle."

It was Sarah's voice, and it was to his right, and behind him. He heard the tromps of Ludo's big feet as well.

"Ooooh." Ludo observed. "Hoggle take baaaath!"

"Hoggle is _soaking_, big guy." Hoggle corrected. "Because Hoggle hasn't had an opportunity like this in a long time."

"Perhaps thou wishest a bar of soap?" Didymus sarcastically asked. "Shall I scrub behind thine ears?"

"When's the last time _you _took a bath, fox boy?" Hoggle shot back.

Sarah crouched down beside Hoggle. "I only have two hours left, Hoggle. I could really use your help." Sarah brought her lips closer to Hoggle's right ear. "Don't you want to help me? For old time's sake?"

"I dunno...got anymore plastic bracelets?" Hoggle mused. "You give me nothing but trouble with Jareth, Sarah. All I have ever wanted since I came back here after our brief little visit to your bedroom was a fair shot of peace and quiet. Oh, I grant you, I had that for a few years or so...but dwarves like me never get enough of it. I'm not some big, brawny stout brandishing an axe. I'm just like everyone else in this morphable dump. An _undesirable_. My kin want war and beer and beards. I don't care for _any _of that stuff."

"I'm not asking you to brandish an axe, Hoggle." Sarah replied. "You think I'm not scared? I'm _terrified_. I just found out I've been _marked_. Branded by someone that wasn't Jareth. Someone I don't know at all, but who seems to think I'm much better off pulling a chariot rather than...than..."

Hoggle turned to Sarah, in her hesitance. "Than _what_, Sarah?"

Sarah sighed. She couldn't just come out and say the truth, much as she could have just blurted out something along the lines of _than keeping books in order in a library and reading stories to children_.

Hoggle leaned towards Sarah in her hesitation. "What do you think you'll _get _out of this new labyrinth, eh? More bragging rights? Sarah Williams, champion of the labyrinth, beats the Goblin King a second time? Shall we go for the trifecta at some point? In the twenty years you've been gone, you know what this ol' dwarf has heard? You did it _single-handedly_. No help whatsoever."

"You should have told them differently!" Sarah protested, feeling hurt by this bit of griping.

"What makes you think I _didn't_, Sarah?" Hoggle countered. "But it's all about the popular word, isn't it? One too many people believe the lie, and you have no choice but to throw up your hands in defeat."

"Why should you care what others think about the truth?" Sarah offered. "You were there, weren't you? _Helping _me?"

"_Poisoning _you?" Hoggle quickly reminded.

Sarah sighed. "You didn't poison me, Hoggle. I'm still here, I'm still me. Hell, I've been me for twenty years, and now I'm back here." Sarah then sat alongside the dwarf. "OK. Let's assume you get more people telling you that Sarah did it all on her own. No help, nothing. It hurts you to hear that, doesn't it?"

Hoggle just stared forward. He didn't say a word.

"That's what I thought." Sarah continued. "But you know what I'd do, Hoggle? I'd laugh my exhibit-A off! I'd say to myself...you _fools!_ You weren't actually _there! _Say what you want, believe what you want...I'll just sit here in this lake and _laugh myself silly!_ Hoggle...honestly? I don't _care _about all that 'champion' crap. I'm just a _librarian_! That's all I've _been_ for twenty years! I've been juggling books all my life, and reading them to children...and you know what? I've been content. Just as content as you are now, here in this lake. But as much as I'd like to just get into this lake and join you so we can _both _laugh at everyone getting the facts so horribly wrong, I may not be able to do that once the two hours I have left are up, Hoggle. I don't think you'd want to see what happens to me if I fail, either."

This seemed to get Hoggle's attention, and his eyes went wide. "Oh?" He then turned to Sarah. "And why do you say that, hmm?"

"Because you cared enough to keep helping me even after you gave me that peach to eat, Hoggle." Sarah solemnly replied. "Honestly...it doesn't surprise me that Sir Didymus thinks of you as a Knight."

"I _hate _when he does that." Hoggle griped. Sarah couldn't help but smile at that.

"Not me!" Ludo then remarked, flexing his muscles proudly. "Wudo _Squire!_"

Sarah giggled...but Hoggle noticed something at this. Something...some_one_...who had at some point wandered away during their discussion. "Where _is _Diddy, anyway?"

Sarah now looked around, as did Ludo. He had even left his napping steed, Ambrosius, with them. "SIR DIDYMUS?" She called out.

But there was no immediate answer. Another attempt to call him over similarly failed.

Sarah therefore turned to the one individual among them who had the best chance of literally sniffing him out.

"Ambrosius? Think you can help us find him?" She asked.

The Sheepdog barked eagerly in response.

* * *

Didymus had noticed a dove hovering overhead during Sarah's conversation with Hoggle. He also heard a familiar voice in his head providing the knight with a location, and an advisory to come alone. It then flew in a direction Didymus followed.

It had been a long, long time since he had last heard that voice. Before he was stationed in that portion of the first labyrinth where he eventually met and befriended Sarah Williams.

The dove had directed Didymus far enough from the rest of the group before settling within the grotto of a nearby forest. The fox-like humanoid relentlessly surged forward until he was able to penetrate the grotto.

"Thy time is quite short!" Didymus announced. "Speak thy peace and be done with it!"

After a moment of silence, the voice that was in his head spoke from behind a large rock within the grotto. "How I missed thee, mighty knight." The voice purred.

What stepped out from behind the rock in the next moment was about the most perfect fusion of human and fox imaginable. Fluffy volumes of red and white fur with a pillowy, billowing fox tail behind her. She was quite shapely, as well, as she slinked out into view with the most sultry eyes.

Didymus could not help but swallow audibly as he stared. "Um...must...thou..._deceive_ me so?"

The vulpine female laughed an infectious giggle before she spoke again, in a voice which...unbeknownst to Didymus...belonged entirely to the Lady Vestrie. "I thought I would assume a pleasing shape, Sir Knight. I am, after all, a fair maiden you once rescued long ago."

"Leading to a most humiliating misfortune!" Didymus then remarked. "What dost thou wish, Seelie? Thy time is even shorter now!"

"A favor, good Sir." The vulpine Vestrie responded. "Thy fair Lady Sarah needs her strength if she is to proceed upon her remaining two hours capably."

"Thou art a _neophyte_ in thine art of subterfuge!" Didymus protested. "I'll not feed a single peach to the fair Lady Sarah!"

Vestrie laughed. "Stay thy suspicion, Sir Didymus. 'Tis not a peach I offer. You cannot deny, however, that she will need her strength. Hast thou inquired as to when she has _eaten_ last? You _do _wish to be able to help there, dost thou not, chivalrous knight?"

Didymus blinked, his muzzle lowering in fair consideration.

Vestrie, however, now looked dismissive. "Ah...my time is up. Well, I trust thou canst feed her berries, or linger the hope that you'll find a wayward vegetable...my apologies for wasting thy time, good Sir Kni..."

"Hold." Sir Didymus firmly remarked, stopping Vestrie just as she emerged from the grotto. She slowly turned back to the vulpine knight. "What manner of sustenance dost thou propose?" Didymus warily asked.

Vestrie then produced a single, flawless, shiny red apple, holding it out to Didymus in the palm of her black fox hand. "Just this."

"And what interest dost the Seelie have in the Lady Sarah's plight?" Didymus challenged.

"Oh, come now, good Sir Knight." Vestrie cooed. "Need I mention, again, the ages-old conflict between the Seelie and the Unseelie? Need I remind thee that thou art bound to an Unseelie den? A mighty knight of true virtue in a place where virtue is an illusion? That _Sarah _is in this very same den? We want her to succeed. We _need _her to succeed. This one apple will keep thy fair Lady Sarah capably fed for _days_. 'Tis a boon, courtesy of the High Chamberlain, who I believe you once served, when you had an actual _horse _between your legs?"

Sir Didymus sighed. Only she could bring that up. The misfortune that led to his current situation, which he had since grown so accustomed to. Vestrie had a point, too. Sarah might have momentarily forgotten the need for sustenance in her zeal to get through the labyrinth. Perhaps the apple could make this a non-issue in one bite.

Vestrie certainly made it sound as such.

Precious time was wearing away, and he now heard his name being called by a voice that sounded very much like Sarah from outside the grotto.

"Very well, Seelie." Didymus took the apple. "My compliments to mine former liege for the gesture. And now, I must be off!" The knight finally emerged from the grotto, but momentarily turned back to Vestrie. "Thy fruit looks positively scrumptious! Art thou certain it shall keep her from further want of meal?"

"Trust me, Sir Knight." Vestrie assured, a sly grin on her face. "That one apple will keep her on the trot."


	15. Chapter 15: There and Back Again

With Sarah and her friends reunited, they ventured out together into a stretch of the new labyrinth's open landscape...perhaps a border between sections...to find what looked to be a large village of sorts within which the quaint mass of identical-looking cottages had one alternating detail.

All four of the log-crafted outer walls on each cottage were either dominantly blue, or dominantly red. All the cottages, however, had the same manner of light brown straw roof.

As they approached the village, they noted that there was a single cottage, which was actually two attached cottages, with one door on each colored cottage. It was the only way they could enter the area.

Sarah turned to the group after a moment of thought. "I say we split up evenly. I'll take Hoggle with me. Sir Didymus, you go with Squire Ludo. I'll take the blue side."

"Leaving us to enter the red!" Sir Didymus replied. "But...before thou dost take thy door..." The fox-like knight then pulled the shiny red apple he had been given, holding it out to Sarah. "...I fancied thou hath not eaten, and I have it on good authority that this shall keep thyself well fed upon eating it!"

Sarah tilted her head, gazing upon it. "Well...I'm not very hungry at the moment..." Her eyes, however, lingered upon the apple, finding it more appealing now. She stepped over to grab it. "...but, uh...I'll save it for when I get a little peckish." She then smiled to the knight. "Thanks, Sir Didymus."

"At thy service, milady." Didymus noted, turning toward his door with his giant Squire behind him. Fortunately, this particular dual-cottage was tall enough to accommodate Ludo's size.

Sarah placed her hand on the doorknob of the blue cottage, but turned her head to Hoggle. "All set?"

Hoggle nodded. "Let's figure this thing out, champ."

Sarah smiled at this, pulling the door wide open.

*_CREEEAK_* went the door.

What she saw inside had her sighing in exasperation. "Oh, no..."

Hoggle looked inside, puzzled. He then looked to Sarah. "Friend of yours?"

Sarah stepped into her side of the cottage. "Depends on which one is gonna tell the truth."

Hoggle followed her in, the both of them confronting what looked to be an animal-headed figure hiding behind a shield. The upper portion of this familiar figure was wearing a blue guard outfit, while the lower portion...which was upside-down...had a red outfit on. Flanking this guard were two doors. One door was blue, and the other was red.

Sarah turned to Hoggle to explain. "One guard face tells the truth, the other lies."

Hoggle nodded. "I guess we have to ask the guard which door is the one we need to go into to venture forward."

Sarah nodded. "And hope the one we take isn't based on a lie." She then turned her eyes to the guard. "OK...which door do we take to go _further _to the center of the labyrinth?"

"Red will send ye to the village 20 miles away!" The red guard replied.

"And it will give ye warts all over ye faces." The blue guard added.

"If ye take the blue door." The red countered.

"How would _you _know what lies behind the blue door?" The blue guard argued.

"I peeked." Red confessed.

"Och! Did not." Blue remarked.

"'Fraid I did." Red countered.

"Ye didn't."

"I did!" Red shot back. "Did it while ye slumbered."

"I never sleep!" Blue protested.

"Fine! I did it while ye blinked!" Red noted.

Sarah cleared her throat audibly to get the attention of the guard heads. "Uh...blue? Why don't _you _tell me what will happen if we go through the _red _door?"

"Ye'll  
turn blue!" The blue guard revealed.

"And ye go _forward _by a good 50 feet!" Red added.

"No, they'll just be on the other side of it." The blue guard corrected. "No giant steps further."

"Well, _I _think blue doors turn 'em red!" The red guard countered.

As the blue guard corrected the red, however, Sarah had penetrated the red door, grabbed Hoggle, and surged right through it.

Sure enough, they were in the village, and on the other side of the dual-cottage. No further, but at the same time, not farther.

But her peripheral vision caught the oddity upon passing through the door, as did Hoggle, and Sarah lifted her hand to confirm what had happened. She gasped in surprise.

Sarah's human skin was now blue.

Her hair was blue. Her shirt was blue. Everything about her had been colored blue, save for the apple she had with her. Looking into a reflective surface, she saw that the color in her eyes had been turned blue.

Hoggle confirmed that the same thing had happened to him.

Sarah sighed in frustration.

"We should have gone through when the Red guard said we would have gone 50 feet forward." Hoggle suggested.

"Well, I certainly hope the next cottage we go into will give us the option of getting our natural colors back." Sarah noted, glancing at the skin of her arm again. "I feel like a blueberry."

_*CREEAK*_

"Half of you will come out six feet away and the other will go even further back!"

"Oh, go on! The lass will come out in a blueberry field! No further, no farther!"

"Ye daft! That will happen to the wee one!"

"They'll both switch clothes!"

"Liar. Next ye'll be tellin' they'll come out looking normal AND closer by 50 feet!"

Sarah and Hoggle _burst _through the indicated door.

Sure enough, they both found that their natural colors had been restored. Looking around, they saw that the dual-cottage was _far _behind them.

Sarah giggled at their stroke of luck, and even Hoggle looked pleased.

But then, Hoggle's expression changed to one of worry. "You don't think the other group is having a tough time of this, are they?"

"Well, hopefully Didymus is making the right choices." Sarah replied. "Or Ludo figured it out."

"Bet you your own bracelet Diddy is picking the doors." Hoggle mused.

Sarah moved to a new cottage, stepping in with Hoggle and disappearing into it, just as the cottage they just abandoned opened once again, and a fox-like knight...riding on the back of a sheepdog...and a large, hairy giant emerged from it.

And all three of them were red.

"Oooooh!" The horned humanoid observed. "Wudo _wed!_"

Didymus's reaction to this was far more dramatic. He gasped. "Ambrosius? Hast thou been wounded? Thou art covered in...AAH! _I _am covered in...in...wait. Where's my wound?" He looked to Ludo. "Hast _thou _been struck, Squire?"

Ludo looked puzzled at this. "Who thou?"

_*CREEAK*_

"Oh, that red door. Everything will look upside down going through _that _one!"

"_My _door gets ye to a big field! Plenty o' room ta roam!"

"My door is locked! It requires five keys to open!"

"My door leads to the Land of Right Turns!"

"His door is locked, and there's no keyhole!"

Hoggle suddenly interjected as the pair listened. "The red door is open, has no keyhole, and gets us to the final area of the labyrinth."

The Red guard's eyes went wide. "How did ye know?"

"Must have read your mind!" Blue remarked.

And it was here that Sarah and Hoggle attempted to pass through the red door…

"Oh, ye're all latched up." Red griped.

…but it was _stuck!_

The guard heads looked curiously to Sarah and Hoggle as they struggled to get the door open.

Hoggle looked at the doorknob…and saw that a latch was below it. "Wait, Sarah!" He now frowned to the red guard head. "It's got a latch."

Sarah also frowned to the guard head as Hoggle clicked the latch to the 'open' position.

But just as Hoggle ripped open the door, the hurt guard head suddenly uttered his gripe.

"Hmph! Not _my _fault that door leads to a big field very far from here!"

Hoggle grabbed Sarah and pulled upon her. "NO! WAIT!" Sarah screamed.

But they were already through.

Stepping out onto the grassy fields, the human and the dwarf confirmed that once they stepped out, and they had glanced behind them, there was no cottage to return to. In fact, the field they had stepped onto had no cottages at all, and there was no indications of anything remotely relating to the labyrinth anywhere in the distance in any direction.

Sarah wondered how much time they had just wasted...but at this point, it didn't matter as she sank to her knees and howled out to the heavens irritably. She then hung her head forward in despair.

Game over.

Truly, this time...and even if it weren't, she was too frustrated to care.

And too hungry, as well.

Hoggle sighed as he glanced around the open surroundings. There was nothing but clean, bare glass and a cloud-flecked blue sky above. "We've hit a really big stumbling block _this _time, haven't we?"

Sarah remained silent, however, for a long moment.

Hoggle stepped over slowly. "Sarah? Come on now…you haven't got much time left!"

"It's over." Sarah quietly admitted.

Hoggle's large eyes widened even further. "Oh, you did _not _just say that, champ! Haven't you forgotten the golden rule of the labyrinth? Everything we see could just be a…"

"There's nothing around for _miles_." Sarah firmly remarked, trying to hold back frustrated tears.

"Maybe if we close our eyes and…just walk around a little…" Hoggle then shut his eyes and began taking a few steps forward. "…hmmm…still feels like grass. Maybe if we hop…" And then, Hoggle began hopping on one leg.

Sarah didn't move from her spot, nor did she turn her head to the dwarf out of curiosity.

Hoggle opened his eyes…and sure enough, he was in the same field, with Sarah nearby.

The little dwarf turned to his human companion. "Maybe if we put our heads together. We could close our eyes at the same time and…"

"More teamwork, Hoggle?" Sarah quietly noted. "Isn't that what got us here in the first place? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Someplace _you _pulled us into?"

Sarah sighed as Hoggle's face dissolved into one of shock. In that moment, too, Sarah herself regretted saying that.

The dwarf placed his hands on his hips and frowned. "Come on, Sarah…that's not fair!"

Sarah then rose up. "Sounds familiar." She then began walking in a single direction without looking back to Hoggle. She just stared in the direction she was going, hoping that some kind of landmark…_anything_…would suddenly show up on the horizon.

Hoggle hung his head as he followed behind. Although the accusation still stung, she was technically right. The dwarf _had _made an entirely impulsive move. "I'm sorry, Sarah…you're right. This is my fault, but…can't you see I'm trying to get us back on track?"

Sarah then stopped. Her eyes closed in regret. "I know…" She replied weakly. "…I'm sorry too, Hoggle. I…I know you're trying to help…and I really appreciate it…"

She then turned and advanced quickly upon Hoggle, going to a knee and hugging the little dwarf tightly. Hoggle, however, gasped at this notion. "Hey! HEY! Nononononono! Please…let me go, let me…!"

But in Sarah's rush of emotion, she had already done what he dreaded. She planted a loving kiss on the dwarf's forehead.

Twenty years never affected his perception of the potency of the threat Jareth laid upon Hoggle since the Goblin King confronted the dwarf in the first labyrinth, a moment in which the Unseelie monarch provided the little man with the peach he would later feed to Sarah. Hoggle remembered every word of Jareth's warning as if he had been told yesterday.

_If she kisses you, I'll turn you into a Prince of the land of stench!_

Hoggle froze. His eyes just stayed open, and they were as wide as they could possibly go. He feared he would hear the King's voice, and he would be consigned to the Bog for the rest of his life as its 'Prince'.

Sarah saw the horrified look on the little dwarf's face, and she now looked quite concerned. "What?"

Hoggle spoke in a barely-audible voice, his body trembling, his face frozen in its horrified expression. "You shouldn't have done that…you've _doomed _me!"

Sarah frowned. "What are you _talking _about?"

"You _kissed _me!"

"So? That's a _good _thing!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Not to _me_, it isn't!" Hoggle griped. "Don't do that ever ag…ohhh, drat it all. Damage is done..." He then dropped his butt down on the soft grass. "…guess it's fate, Hoggle. You hate the Bog so much, you might as _well _be the Prince of it!" He muttered.

Sarah just stared down incredulously at the despairing dwarf. "Hoggle…you have _lost _me."

"In more ways than one!" Hoggle then huffed, crossing his arms. "Go on without me! I put you in this predicament, I should get what I deserve! A nice, big dip in the Bog of Eternal Stench where I belong!"

Sarah was speechless. What could she possibly say to this? Why in the world was he suddenly acting this way? She never imagined that something as heartfelt as a kiss…particularly from an old friend…could provoke this kind of a reaction!

But by now, her frustration over her misfortune re-mounted. Shaking her head, she let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. Just…do whatever you want…" Sarah then turned away from the dwarf, who didn't move an inch from his spot. "…I don't care anymore anyway…" Sarah quietly huffed to herself.

Sarah continued to walk…and walk…and walk in her frustration. Nothing showed up on the grassy plains. No landmarks. Nothing but plains for miles. She even turned back to see if she could still see Hoggle.

But he was gone.

A murmuring in her gut also reminded her of her growing hunger. She thought about the apple that Sir Didymus had given her…but the apple reminded her too much of what the Lady Vestrie had wanted to do with her. The peach, after all, represented Jareth's urges. Apples were a delicacy of horses.

She wasn't about to give the treacherous Sidhe noblewoman that kind of satisfaction.

But then, all she was doing was walking and wandering on a large plain, under a deceptively beautiful sky. She wondered if there wasn't a trick of some kind to this particular place.

It was maddening to figure out as she walked.

And then, she tried running.

As she broke into the run, the world suddenly moved faster. MUCH faster!

She continued to run, seeing the world stream past. She was making some incredible distance as she moved. Eventually, she began to pant with fatigue, and she slowed her run to rest a moment, dropping onto her posterior and mopping sweat from her forehead.

When she looked up, however, she saw that there was finally some trees, bushes…and when she glanced to her right, she saw a small lake.

And drinking from that lake was a real, live unicorn.

She wondered, however, if it was the same unicorn the Lady Vestrie had shown her. The one she called Jezebel.

There was only one way to find out.

Slowly, and as carefully as possible, she stepped up towards the beautiful-looking equine beast. She fervently hoped that this would not be some crazy illusion designed to lure her into some kind of trap.

But as she came close enough to touch the white-furred creature of legend, its long head whipped over to glance at the approaching human.

Sarah froze, her hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness.

Time seemed to stop as the two wary creatures looked upon each other in that moment.

And then, in the next moment, Sarah tried taking a step away from the unicorn.

The creature just continued to stare at her. It looked a bit tense. Like it could make a move at any moment.

As much as she wanted to stay quiet, she had to confirm her suspicion. "Jezebel?" She calmly spoke, hoping for a reaction.

Sure enough, the unicorn began to clop very slowly towards Sarah, who stayed perfectly still, her hands still raised. Once the unicorn was close enough, the fabled beast…whose ears faced forward in a gesture of equine pleasantness…gave the human woman a few curious whiffs.

The unicorn then nickered, and then turned back to the lake. As Sarah watched, the unicorn placed the tip of its horn to the water, a bright point of light emanating from its tip once it touched the surface.

The unicorn then turned its head back to Sarah.

Her first guess was that the legendary beast was inviting the human to drink from the lake, and so Sarah stepped towards the water, kneeling in front of it, and then cupping her hands to draw some of the cool, clear liquid into her hands so she could sip from it.

The water was very, very refreshing. Her fatigue from the run seemed to abate, and she drank more from what she had in her hands. She then dropped to her hands and sipped right from the lake.

When Sarah's head came up, she felt quite refreshed. She was still a little hungry, but not as much as before. Glancing to the unicorn, she smiled.

It then clopped over to her once again, as Sarah rose to her feet.

Slowly, she brought a hand towards the unicorn's muzzle. She couldn't help but feel that she was pushing her luck now, but the creature was undeniably real. She had to try and touch it.

To Sarah's relief, her hand rested lightly against the unicorn's long head, clearly contacting it.

But instead of reacting badly, or with any sense of fright or even anger, the unicorn rubbed its head against Sarah's hand slowly, nickering softly.

Sarah had to giggle. "You _are _Jezebel, aren't you? She ran her hand softly over the pure, soft white fur of the creature's long head. "I'm Sarah."

In her moment of introduction, however, the spiraling alicorn came down upon Sarah's forehead, a flash of light temporarily igniting every vein in her head with a momentary white glow. Her eyes went wide with this contact, and she gasped in surprise, her mouth agape from the paralyzingly intense rush of energy to her head.

The rush of energy then flooded every inch of her body in that moment, and she gasped aloud once again in a long, lingering inward breath.

Sarah's head bobbed forward slowly, her mouth still agape, her eyes still boggling from the lingering effect. All thoughts in her head clouded up, save for one repeated, whispered request from a feminine voice.

_Ride me, Sarah._

The unicorn then dropped its equine posterior to the ground, and Sarah drifted over to the white-furred beast, her head and her body still caught up in the rush of energy coursing through her, neutralizing all clear thought and keeping her in a daze.

When she collapsed forward against the unicorn's back, the creature raised its hind portion back up, draping Sarah's legs on either side of its toned, white-furred body. Her arms lightly wrapped around the unicorn's neck as the creature began to gallop forward.

Unfortunately, the rush of purifying energy coursing and lingering through Sarah's body made her completely unaware of where her steed was taking her.

Through the haze of her vision and the lack of clarity in her thinking, she was barely able to comprehend the rush of trees and plains, which gave way to a path. Sarah felt the white steed begin to slow up. Moving figures could be seen, and through the pressure muting her hearing, she was able to hear people speaking words that were nothing but hums. When the unicorn slowed to a full stop, she barely felt hands gently holding her through the full-on numbness lingering in her body pulling her off the back of the unicorn.

They gave her to a man in black, and even in the haze, the combination of the black outfit and mullet-like hair in the distinct color made it clear who this was.

Jareth.

She was in his arms now, quivering. The effect continued to linger as she was slowly brought someplace which looked, through her haze, to be ivory in color, but it was still too hazy to figure out what it was.

She was rested upon a soft surface. Jareth murmured something she could not make out at all, and he shook his head, perhaps in shame. The Goblin King then walked away from her.

A few minutes later, her clarity of thought, sight, and sound...and some of her sense of feeling…was restored.

By the sound of two clicks from the slender fingers of a Sidhe noblewoman's right hand.


	16. Chapter 16: Affections and Afflictions

**Moments before Sarah's arrival...**

The High Chamberlain was clearly in a huff as he approached the large mansion of the the Lady Vestrie...but before he ascended the steps towards the marble veranda preceding the lavish double doors, he stopped...and stepped over across the mansion's width to a smaller side building, which was surrounded by a low pearl-wrought gate resembling the wooden fence at a barn, and glanced upon the three white marble stables Vestrie had next to her mansion.

Within one...which was the largest...was her extravagant chariot, with more decorative detailing than was necessary for the average chariot. The High Chamberlain never imagined Vestrie would fashion her unicorn-drawn conveyance against a human-engineered design from such a barbaric time in human history when he first saw it, but he gradually came to understand why given Vestrie's increasingly imperious nature since Prince Angaron had rescued her. Indeed, the High Chamberlain could always remember Vestrie's younger years as being much more innocent, and far sweeter than the Sidhe noblewoman she eventually became.

The stall next to where the Chariot was kept was being attended to by a young stable boy, who he knew to be Vestrie's usual caretaker and a native Sidhe. He was about to release Jezebel unto the nearby plains that came before the fleet-footed fields so she could get a drink from the lake she typically assuaged her thirst from. The stable boy gave the High Chamberlain a respectful nod as he led Jezebel out.

The third stall, however, was empty. The High Chamberlain knew that Vestrie's chariot required two to draw it, and it immediately concerned him that there was supposed to be a second unicorn in this particular stable.

The High Chamberlain had wanted the suspicion he had formed to be wrong, but after what he had seen at Vestrie's last social when she pulled Sarah away from him, the circumstances were irrefutable.

He then stalked back to the veranda, ripping open the front doors to the mansion.

The extravagantly-furnished living room, surrounded by all manner of lovely plants and alabaster statues, each of them representing wild animals unique to the Fae(mostly, of course, unicorns), that the mansion's double doors opened up onto was occupied by two figures. One was a young Sidhe girl dressed in a servant's gown, holding a long mirror up in front of the room's second occupant, the Lady Vestrie herself.

She turned to face the High Chamberlain wearing a silver and white porcelain eyemask that surrounded her eyes within a pair of exquisitely-detailed wings, both of them symmetrical.

"Knock, knock?" Vestrie calmly mused aloud.

But the High Chamberlain stepped right up in front of Vestrie, a scowl on his face. "Does Jareth have _anything _to do with how you're treating the Champion of the Labyrinth, Vestrie?"

Vestrie sighed, and then glanced to the nearby servant girl. "Leave us." She firmly commanded.

The High Chamberlain also spoke to the Sidhe girl, but with a tone far more gentle. "Please pardon us, my dear. We shan't be long." He punctuated this with the smoothing of one of his slender hands over the Sidhe girl's cheek, and the servant sweetly smiled as she curtseyed in acknowledgement and moved out of the living room carrying the long mirror.

Vestrie smirked as the servant girl disappeared behind a side door. "Shouldn't you be attempting to find my husband's..."

The High Chamberlain was quick with his interruption, raising a finger in emphasis. "Don't you _dare _try and hide behind official business, Vestrie. I can see you still have Jezebel here. What happened to Aegeas?"

"Jezebel tired of that pompous unicorn's superiority complex, so I released him." Vestrie responded. "She desires more...effeminate company. Rather touching, really, considering how human romance is being so radically re-defined in the world above these days. I hope you don't expect that I should have Jezebel pull my chariot on her own, do you, High Chamberlain? She clearly needs a partner."

The High Chamberlain's eyes flared with anger, now. "Why a _human_, Vestrie? _Why Sarah Williams?_"

"Because her life is _empty._" Vestrie hissed. "I find her remarkable as well. A woman as old as she is usually dissolves herself in the banal politics of her world that all too frequently erodes the imagination. There are very few people her age who are young at heart, High Chamberlain. She yearns for fascination that I can clearly give her."

"At the cost of her _humanity?_" The High Chamberlain alarmingly hissed. "Vestrie...I am not going to appeal right now to the materialistic socialite you have obviously become. I want to appeal to the sweet young Sidhe girl you used to be. _Leave Sarah Williams alone!_ At least leave her to finish that confounded labyrinth!"

"I'm afraid I've already played my hand, High Chamberlain." Vestrie then noted, donning an intricately-crafted leather vest. "While the Seelie does have clearly defined statutes regarding young children, most of the legislative body of the Seelie rulership does not think too highly of humans that are around Sarah's age _because _they're so insistent these days, apparently, on being so...cold and unfeeling. Far too many have lost faith in their own species. They're all convinced the human race is going to destroy itself."

The High Chamberlain's eyes were wide with disbelief as Vestrie walked right up to him to deliver the _coup de grace_. "Besides...whatever made you think I did not consult the legislative body about Sarah before I marked her as my own? After all...we are dealing with a human woman who harbors unspoken affections for an Unseelie Prince. You really think a human woman so young at heart...and so extraordinarily beautiful, even as an adult...who still nurtures the kind of moral fiber the Seelie Court favors should find happiness with a rotter like Jareth? I had to act, High Chamberlain. I dealt my hand long before Sarah ever got that job in the library."

The High Chamberlain now arched a brow. "A goblin wished her back into the labyrinth, Vestrie. Are you suggesting that you _arranged _for a goblin to send her back to the Underground just so you could replace a _unicorn _you dismissed?"

"Oh, those goblins were already _in _that library. Jareth had them _planted _there!" Vestrie stepped away, looking irritated, from the High Chamberlain. "You know, I wish you would cease speaking to me as if I were doing something _wicked!_" She then turned to him with a scowl of her own. "Do you know there are people up there, in Sarah's world, who enjoy dressing up in furry outfits? A whole _community _of them! Some are loud and proud of this, but others? They're either too afraid to come out with it, or they just don't know how much they might actually _like _being something other than an aging, hairless mammal on two legs! Especially someone like _Sarah!_"

"Oh? You think Sarah would find true happiness as one of your steeds?" The High Chamberlain incredulously mused. "Do you have any idea how _ridiculous _that sounds?"

"Would you rather see the look on her face when she finds out the truth about Jareth, High Chamberlain?" Vestrie then asked, her own eyebrow arched. "Need I remind you that he still hides behind Vanity? Just as he did when he first met Sarah?"

The High Chamberlain went quiet at this. He then closed his eyes in defeat. Clearly, she had a point. He also could not help but feel sympathy for Sarah Williams.

"I'm not trying to make her suffer at all, High Chamberlain. I like Sarah. Even if I am jealous of her human beauty." Vestrie admitted. "But you should know I gave her a taste of the life I offered. Oh, she was afraid at first...but when I had her at a full gallop in her partial state? I felt that she was _enjoying_ it. Who are we as Seelie, therefore, to deny an empty human a shot at true happiness? Even if it is in a form other than human?"

A soft knock at the door the young Sidhe girl stepped past preceded the re-appearance of the very same servant girl, speaking in a sweet, young, and intelligent voice, offering a customary curtsey once she began speaking. "Milady Vestrie...forgive my interruption. Jezebel has returned with a human female on her back. The human appears visibly shaken. The stable boy tells me she was touched on the head by Jezebel's alicorn."

Neither the Chamberlain nor Vestrie needed to confirm it was Sarah. It was entirely obvious. "Thank you, my sweet." Vestrie sweetly replied. "Remain here. I shall bring her to the stable so she can get a bit of rest."

"Uh, _no_, Vestrie. Allow me the grace of providing that bit of help to Sarah while she remains human. I do, after all, have a great amount of respect for the Champion of the Labyrinth." The High Chamberlain interjected. "Unless, of course, you prefer to be stingy with your possessions."

Vestrie smirked at this. "I've marked her anyway. She's mine no matter what anyone says or does."

The High Chamberlain ignored this as he re-opened the double doors and exited the mansion.

"Permission to ask milady about the beautiful-looking human?" The girl then asked.

Vestrie smiled as she moved to a nearby couch, patting the space next to her. "Speak your concern, my dear."

The girl timidly lowered into the offered space. "What has happened to the beautiful human?"

"She has been touched by the horn on Jezebel's head, which is called an alicorn." Vestrie settled an arm around the girl. "The alicorn's power provides purification and healing, my sweet. Water purifies at the touch of the alicorn. If the beautiful human were wounded, or diseased, the touch of the alicorn would have cleansed her body of such ailments. Fatigue, however, can fool some unicorns into believing that the human was sick or otherwise ailing, and so, if the unicorn likes the human, they attempt to fix the human."

"And if there was nothing wrong with the beautiful human?" The girl asked.

"The beautiful human becomes stricken with the unicorn's sole means of defense against humans it doesn't like, and I call this condition the Rush." Vestrie replied. "The intense purification energy attempts to purify the human's blood, beginning with the point of contact. If that point of contact is the head, the effect is far more...dramatic. Instead of a loss of feeling in whatever the alicorn touched, they 'rush' the purifying energies all throughout the brain, transmitting the rush unto _all _the human body's nerve centers, temporarily neutralizing the human's senses and also rendering the human temporarily susceptible to suggestion. In most cases, this is how the unicorn can drive away humans who chance upon them, imparting a suggestion to flee. Jezebel, on the other hand, liked the beautiful human. The alicorn touch was probably an accident. No doubt she offered the beautiful human a ride. A ride back here, apparently, to make amends for what she did to her."

"The beautiful human is pretty." The girl smiled. "Will she be staying with us?"

"Oh yes, my dear." Vestrie then gave the girl a tender kiss on her forehead. "And I imagine she will be far more pleasant than Aegeas was once I've seen to her. Jezebel certainly likes her. What do you think? Shall I make the beautiful human like Jezebel?"

The girl considered this, and then looked back to Vestrie with a sweet smile. "I think the beautiful human will make a very pretty unicorn, milady Vestrie!"

* * *

Once the High Chamberlain was out of the mansion, he pulled a small object out from a pocket of his robes and placed the object...a shining gold, featureless ring...onto his finger, already formulating a possible plan to save Sarah from this fate that was clearly being forced upon her.

The solid gold ring was only used in affairs of courtly romance to resolve potentially catastrophic disputes, and was called the Circle of Affection. He whispered Sarah's full name unto the ring, hoping that Sarah would be able to recognize the image of the person her heart truly held affection for through her eyes, whether she openly admitted to it or not.

And when the High Chamberlain carried Sarah Williams to the stable area, Sarah herself did not see any hazy image of the High Chamberlain.

She had seen a hazy semblance of the Goblin King.

Unfortunately, the High Chamberlain was unaware of whomever Sarah saw through her eyes, but he had a feeling it could very well be Jareth.

Placing the quivering human against a soft patch of hay, he rose back up and spoke a single sentence. "It genuinely pains me to leave you like this, Sarah Williams."

He shook his head regretfully, and then left the stable, hoping she could hold out until he could play a hand of his own.

* * *

**Meanwhile, back at the Cottage puzzle...**

_*CREEAK*_

"Me blue door should get ye right close!"

"Ye daft! Ye blue door be too small for the giant!"

"Squire _cwouch!_"

"Well...when ye put it _that _way..."

"Indeed. Better off red than dead. Shall ye go further?"

_*CREEAK*_

"Red be sendin' ye UP!"

"Well...red will send ye mount up, anyway..."

"I go _nowhere _without Ambrosius, blue fiend! Explain thy _own _door!"

"Blue sends ye to the land of BIG!"

"Och! Now ye just reachin'!"

"Reaching? Reaching for what?" Sir Didymus asked.

"A drink!"

"Nay, a horse!"

"Fibber! An island full of dogs just like ye mount!"

Ambrosius whined in curiosity at this, his furry head tilting to the side.

"Jousts aplenty!"

"Aye! A chance at heroism, ta be sure!"

"AYE! AYE! Let me at thy door!" Didymus explained...but a large, hairy hand kept the door closed as Didymus struggled to get it open.

"Remove thy hand from the door, Squire!" Didymus protested. "Or I shall release thee from thy service!"

"Want Hoggle!" Ludo firmly countered. "Want Sawah!"

"_Want glory!_" Didymus exclaimed.

"Want Hoggle?" The red guard head then asked.

"I be havin' Hoggle!" The blue guard head countered.

"Ye had Hoggle _last _week!"

"He wanted to come back!"

"Ye daft!"

"I tell ye now, Hoggle is _right at this door!_"

_*CREEAK*_

And, sure enough, there Hoggle was. Standing right at the edge of a stinking, murmuring, gurgling, and ultimately familiar Bog.

With the Goblin King standing right behind him.


	17. Chapter 17: Amare Victis

Although her limbs still felt a bit too sluggish and shaky to move normally, Sarah was at least relieved to see that she could see and hear and think normally following the two ominous clicks that she knew were coming from the fingers of the Lady Vestrie. The hay beneath her felt about as comfy as a plump feather pillow, and were it not for the mild barnyard scent, she could have surmised herself to be in some manner of outdoor sleeping quarters.

But judging how her last encounter with the Lady Vestrie ended, she knew exactly where she was as the Seelie noblewoman stepped in front of her with a smile on her flawless face, wearing a silver and white-winged eyemask and a brown leather vest.

"Hello again, Sarah." Vestrie remarked.

"You...you sent Jezebel to get me?" Sarah had to fight through the lingering quaking her body was still suffering from after what Jezebel's horn had done to her to be able to speak.

"Oh, no, my sweet. She touched an already healthy head with her horn. The end result was...well, a bit dramatic." Vestrie explained. "Jezebel wasn't acting on orders from me, though. In fact, she felt a bit distraught over what she did to you, hence her want to take you for a ride. Something most mortals can only dream of experiencing, so consider yourself lucky."

"H...how long have I...I been out...?" Sarah stammered, again fighting the shaking sensations. "I'm a b...bit pressed fo...for time..."

"Shhhhh...you're so stressed, dear." Vestrie had stepped behind her, placing her hands upon Sarah's back, beginning a very relaxing rubbing which began to ease the quaking as the noblewoman spoke. "There, now...just relax, Sarah."

Sarah found that she could at least speak normally now as Vestrie rubbed. "Vestrie...I have a labyrinth to finish."

"And if you don't? What then?" Vestrie asked as she continued her luxuriating rubbing. "You become a grossly-oversized trophy in Jareth's castle? Sarah...I've already marked you as mine, dear. You're much better off being among the Seelie. You're far too beautiful to have anything at all to do with the Unseelie."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah's eyes were now half-lidded, fighting through the comfortable rubs that were soothing her significantly. "Sss...sseelie...Uns...ssseelie...?"

Vestrie giggled. "In layman's terms? Seelie are the good people, like myself. Unseelie, on the other hand, are people like Jareth. Unsavory. deviant. A little more inclined towards evil compared to the Seelie. I'll admit being attracted to his roguish nature...but ask yourself. Life spent as an immovable, living trophy, compared to life spent as one of the most beautiful creatures of the entire Fae society. Which would you prefer, dear?"

Sarah sighed. "Well...why couldn't I be like one of _you_, Vestrie?"

"_Lady _Vestrie." The Seelie firmly corrected. "On my property, I expect guests not of noble status to regard me accordingly, Sarah. Even you." Vestrie stopped rubbing, and then rested her soft, tall, and thin frame against Sarah, wrapping her arms around her from behind. "I won't say it's impossible for someone from your world to be made one of the Fae...but a Sidhe? We find any concept of a human becoming one of us to be quite insulting. Loathsome. You'd be regarded as an abomination, no matter how convincing you look. Sidhe are pure creatures of the Fae folk, dear. I certainly grant that your natural human beauty makes you an equal to most of our kind, but..."

"You're _jealous_." Sarah interjected. "Just as Jareth had said."

Vestrie then snaked a hand over to the pocket of Sarah's outfit where she kept the apple Vestrie had given to Sir Didymus, and pulled it out, holding it in front of Sarah. "And you're hungry."

Sarah just stared at the large apple now. Perfectly formed, with no soft brown spots, and no stem. Her gaze lingered to a point where Sarah felt like she could swallow it whole in one big bite.

But she also knew that if she did that, Vestrie would win.

Vestrie softly cooed into Sarah's ear as she stared at the flawless fruit, desperately fighting her own will to take a hungry bite. "I'm not jealous, my sweet. I meant what I said to Jareth. I'm making a compromise. Everyone wins, Sarah. You, me, Jareth. We all get to be together, always. Bound by love for one another."

"But you won't let me be _me_." Sarah quietly protested, looking away from the apple.

"You're right." Vestrie pointedly admitted, pulling the apple out of sight. "I won't let you be empty old Sarah Williams. I won't let you go back to your empty job and your empty life, longing to come back here and be with the very same handsome Prince who once stole your baby brother. _At your very request_, I might add."

"I never _wanted _to come back to the labyrinth." Sarah remarked.

"You're lying." Vestrie countered. "Twenty years drifting through life since that little party in your bedroom after you beat him the first time. If you were enjoying your life, you wouldn't be drifting through it. You would be living it with a spring in your step. When is the last time you felt that way, Sarah? Tell me, my sweet."

Sarah reflected on this request willingly, considering that Vestrie was accurately illustrating her life since the end of her Underground adventure, and she began to ease her wary stance a little. "Reading fairy tales to little children."

Vestrie shook her head. "Noooo, no, sweet Sarah. Those are _fleeting_ moments. I want you to tell me when you had a _lingering _moment of happiness that gave you a reason to enjoy your life, outside of the labyrinth, for more than a day's time."

Sarah went quiet at this. She tried thinking of some moment in her recent life that made her truly happy.

But she couldn't.

Vestrie's lips now came close to Sarah's right ear. "Did you truly, honestly, _hate_ what I did to you the last time I had you in my arms?"

"No..." Sarah quietly admitted.

"And yet, you're so resistant." Vestrie observed.

"I...I had a labyrinth to think about." Sarah reasoned.

Vestrie's tone sounded nurturing now. "But you're not in the labyrinth anymore, dear. You're with me. At my home. On Seelie property. Even if your time ran out, I've marked you. Jareth can't take you back, so you need not worry about becoming his trophy any longer."

"You lied to me once before." Sarah warily reminded.

"That was before I actually started _liking _you, Sarah." Vestrie reasoned. "Just like Jezebel likes you. We _want _you to be a part of our world, and as a creature we know you like, but which does not and can never exist in your world. Jareth would chain you to his labyrinth world and flaunt you as his bloated toy without even asking permission. I am extending a hand, hoping you'll willingly take it."

"So I can pull your chariot alongside Jezebel." Sarah noted, remembering Jareth's words in his own confrontation with the impossibly beautiful Seelie woman.

"Oh, don't make it sound so _mundane_, sweet Sarah." Vestrie cooed, now running her slender fingers through the human's hair. "Unicorns are the very embodiment of purity and goodness. The Sidhe would _adore _you. Young and old. Granted, I do apply a harness to my steeds if I need the chariot...but it's only to show off the majesty we share as Sidhe nobles. You would be a part of a grand and wonderful and entirely benevolent whole...and when you are not needed, you get to run free in the nearby fleet-footed fields. Your every need would be here, Sarah. A place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to drink...and all the adoration and admiration you could possibly ask for. Especially from _me_."

Vestrie then gently turned Sarah to face her, her body still pressed against the human's as she looked up into the Seelie noblewoman's beautiful blue eyes. No matter how Sarah felt, there was one thing that was irrefutable. Vestrie was one of the most beautiful females she had ever seen. Her comeliness was entirely captivating.

By this time, Sarah was beginning to feel a little warm. Her face looked moist with perspiration, and she began to pant quietly from the building humidity. She was also doing something else Vestrie picked up on as she ran two fingers over two small but visible beads of sweat on Sarah's forehead.

"You're trembling, my sweet." Vestrie tenderly noted, touching the sweat-stained fingertip to her tongue. "You also look...a little wet."

"It's hot..." Sarah whispered. "...it's...s..stuffy...here..."

Vestrie then brought her lips very close to Sarah's, perhaps daring her to kiss them. "You are in my domain, Sarah. I expect respect and obedience over those I command here, and I expect to be acknowledged accordingly." The Sidhe noblewoman quietly whispered. She then moved her lips to Sarah's ear once again. "We are alone here, you and I, and I command thee to stand before me, and I command for thee to acknowledge thy sovereign."

Vestrie then floated up, her slim frame settling back on her feet, standing over Sarah imperiously as the human woman slowly rose up, feeling a chill from the moistness of the patches of sweat on her outfit.

Vestrie then produced a thin, sharp-looking blade from behind her, stepping toward Sarah.

Placing a slender hand behind Sarah's head, Vestrie brought the blade to Sarah's neck and carefully slipped it under the black collar one of Jareth's crystals had attached to her prior to the Goblin King releasing her unto the labyrinth. With a few careful slips of the blade, the collar came loose, becoming a single stretch of black leather that settled to the floor, disappearing before it got there.

This sent a flood of relief through Sarah. The collar was always a grim reminder of the predicament she was in, and now it was gone. Removed by the woman she had thought was her jealous enemy. She now began to believe a lot of what Vestrie had told Sarah regarding the justifications for her actions.

At the same time, however, she began to feel a little timid. Perhaps because of the somewhat severe expression Vestrie was giving her. Even after freeing her from the collar. In that moment, it seemed odd that she should suddenly be feeling so diminished. Was that collar some kind of asset in disguise? A protective measure? A safeguard?

"Only I could have removed that." Vestrie calmly reminded. "What do you say?"

Sarah lowered her head, now trembling nervously. "Thank you...Lady Vestrie."

Vestrie held her firm, commanding tone. "What are you?"

Sarah's voice, by comparison, sounded a little weaker now. "I...I am a lowly human, Lady Vestrie."

"Do you like being a lowly human in my presence?" Vestrie asked. "Shall I command thee to get down on thy knees?"

"No, Lady Vestrie."

"Then you will stop _looking_ like one." Vestrie remarked sternly. "I command thee to remove thy garments at once."

Sarah blushed at this, but she now felt compelled to obey. She began with her footwear, slipping off the boots the masked stranger had provided for her, followed by her vest, and then her blouse. Finally, her blue jeans were pulled down, leaving her covered in white undergarments that looked as if they were altered from those she naturally wore. They were comfy, though, and kept her private parts adequately covered.

Vestrie now paced around Sarah, who kept her head lowered. The next words the Sidhe noblewoman spoke, however, chilled her to the bone.

"I ask for so little, sweet Sarah." Vestrie slowly began. "Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want." The noblewoman then procured the apple she had held in front of Sarah. "Fear me, Sarah. Love me. Do as I say..." Vestrie wrapped her arms around Sarah from behind. "...and I will be your slave."

Sarah felt Vestrie's lips kiss at her neck. Her voice then whispered into the human's ear. "Shall your slave _feed_ thee, my sweet?"

Vestrie held the apple right in front of her again, but it was hardly close enough for her to bite into it. Sarah's eyes flared hungrily now. "Yes..._yes_, my slave..." Sarah called out, in an imperious tone all her own. "..._feed _me. Feed me _now!_"

"Will you let me rule you, Sarah Williams?" Vestrie teased. "Speak from your lowly human heart!"

"_YES! Yes! RULE me, milady Vestrie!_" Sarah cried out, panting hungrily. "_PLEEEASE!_"

"Then from this day forth, you are only Sarah." Vestrie firmly intoned into the human's ear. "You will abandon your family name…Williams…for the rest of your life. Is this quite clear?"

Sarah's gut began to churn now, and she squinted her eyes shut from the hunger pangs. "Y…yess…Lady Ves…Vestrie…"

"Now…what is your full name?"

"Sss…Sarah…" The mortal whispered, fighting back tears. "…just…just Sarah…milady Vestrie…"

Finally, Vestrie moved the apple close enough for Sarah to sink her teeth into the delicious red exterior of the perfect apple she had been gazing upon. Another larger bite was taken. And then another.

Her hunger abated rapidly. She began to feel stronger now. Her hands came up to take more bites of the entirely delicious apple, feeling fresh strength fill her limbs, visibly toning the muscles.

Sarah devoured the entire apple within moments. The juices of the fruit dripped down along the small white goatee that had grown at her chin. Her wider nostrils flared when she saw what Vestrie had procured for her in the next moment.

It was another fresh new apple, which Sarah was quick to devour whole, her eyes closed as she felt more warmth and vigor flood her body.

Sarah hoped that when her eyes opened, her Lady Vestrie would have another delicious apple waiting.

And sure enough, a third apple _was_ waiting for her.

An apple that very quickly disappeared down Sarah's changing gullet as Vestrie stepped away to prepare for her trip to yet another gathering of Seelie socialites.

* * *

"You really need to work on your _timing!_" Hoggle griped as Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, and Ludo stepped out of the door to the Cottage, and saw the dwarf at the edge of another incarnation of the Bog of Eternal Stench. One push...one good shove...and Hoggle would forever bear the Bog's stink.

And the instrument of his fate...a very serious-looking Goblin King...was right behind the smaller humanoid. They stood on the edge of a small cliff face overlooking the re-structured Bog.

"Ah." Jareth noted, upon seeing Didymus and Ludo. "Witnesses." He turned his attention back to Hoggle. "Any last words before I anoint you, Prince?"

Ludo began to moan, but Jareth caught this. He shot an index finger out to the hairy giant. "I see a single rock move, Ludo, and I will pick the dwarf up and _throw _him in. Shall we find out if the Prince can swim through a Bog? Assuming he can swim at all?"

"Weave dwarf awooone!" Ludo protested aloud.

"Not one more word, Rock Troll." Jareth warned.

"So this is what it comes to, Goblin King? Pettiness?" Sir Didymus called out. "The Lady Sarah goes missing, and thy primary concern is carrying out a twenty year old threat?"

"She _kissed _him." Jareth intoned.

After a moment, Didymus looked to Hoggle curiously. "Lips, or forehead?"

"My words were quite plain, chevalier." Jareth shot back. "_She kissed him. _I warned Hogger what the consequences were. Be grateful I'm not making him pay with his life."

"While the Lady Sarah remains under thy treacherous Seelie maiden's spell?" Didymus then inquired.

"There's nothing I can do about that now." Jareth lamented.

Ludo could not help but moan. "Jaweth _coward._" He then growled.

The Goblin King's eyes lit up in anger as they turned to Ludo. "What did you call me?" He firmly intoned.

"Oh, swell. That's _really _gonna help me out, Ludo!" Hoggle wryly noted.

"My Squire speaks truth!" Didymus then noted. "Thy cowardice speaks volumes, monarch! Bullying around those thou dost perceive to be inferior to cover for thy regret, without actually making a conscious effort to accept the risks in reversing the good Lady's fate!"

"You haven't a _clue _as to my lingering conundrums arising from my association with that...mortal." Jareth remarked. "There's nothing to this. I always pay off my debts. Sarah kissed the dwarf. I'll hear this meddler's last words before I..."

"Do it, then." Hoggle then growled.

Jareth blinked in surprise. This, he didn't expect.

"Go on, shove me in!" Hoggle exclaimed. "You don't care about Sarah anymore? Then I don't care to smell like a _dwarf _anymore! Get this over with! In fact...don't bother! _I'll just help myself to a little dip in the mousse!_"

"NOOOO!" Ludo howled, seeing Hoggle begin to make his mad move. Didymus gasped aloud.

But Hoggle couldn't move forward.

Because the Goblin King's arm now had a firm grip on him.

Hoggle struggled, however. He struggled with a surprising amount of anger. "Let me GO! Get your ARM off me, you _coward!_ I'm _sick _of being scared of you, ya big _bully! _Go on and put your money where your fancy-shmancy _mullet is!_"

Jareth's gloved hand now went to Hoggle's throat and he lifted him aloft with a tight grip at the dwarf's neck. The Goblin King's teeth gritted angrily and his face was now a mask of absolute fury as he held Hoggle high.

"Don't...you...DARE, Hoggle!" Jareth growled. "DON'T YOU _DARE!_"

Hoggle, however, did not flail or struggle. He just closed his large eyes, heedless of the grip at his throat. His arms hung down, perhaps awaiting the inevitable, fatal snap of his neck.

"WET DWARF _GOOOO!_" Ludo roared.

"_UNHAND _that Knight, cowardly rotter!" Didymus loudly protested.

Even Ambrosius was barking angrily at the Goblin King now.

Jareth glanced at the trio of Hoggle's angry friends. He then pulled Hoggle in close, keeping his grip tight.

"Not...one...word." Jareth menacingly intoned, through gritted teeth.

"I...don't...care." was Hoggle's weak response.

"Oh, really? You don't care?" Jareth mused. He then pulled the dwarf in closer until he could speak right into his left ear. "I'll have to _make _you care, then."

The Goblin King then cast Hoggle into the skies. He sailed in a crescent arc...

...and landed right next to Ambrosius, who barked excitedly and began licking at the dwarf, who gasped for breath.

Didymus and Ludo gazed to Jareth in disbelief.

"The lot of you now have two hours to find Sarah Williams." Jareth then proclaimed. "Scour this entire labyrinth. Leave no stone unturned. If you find her, you will remind her that twenty years ago, I robbed her of precious time in response to a boast. If you find her, tell her she is being given back those hours, in addition to whatever time she has remaining."

Didymus lit up at this proclamation. "Alas! A most gracious gesture, monarch! Thy message shall be delivered with the greatest of haste!"

Jareth sighed in exasperation. "Verily." He wryly responded.

Didymus then grabbed Hoggle's hand to tug at him. "Here, now! Get thyself righted, Sir Hoggle! Salvation awaits the fair Lady Sarah...but only if we _find _her!"

"Doh, I can get up on my own." Hoggle huffed. "You all go on, I'll...watch your backs, or...something."

Sir Didymus then mounted Ambrosius, raising his lance in emphasis. "Onward! I shall take the lead!"

Ambrosius padded away from the Bog, with Didymus on his back. Ludo glanced to the Goblin King thoughtfully before following behind the knight. As Jareth watched them leave, he then glanced at Hoggle, who was checking his belongings before tracing Ludo's large footsteps.

"Hoggle." Jareth called out.

The dwarf stopped. He didn't even bother to look upon the Goblin King. He just waited.

Jareth sighed. What Hoggle heard next from the mouth of the Goblin King, he did not expect.

"Well played."

Hoggle never responded to this. He simply began moving hurriedly along until he was able to catch up with the slow-moving giant Didymus regarded as a Squire.

Once they were out of sight, an Owl, which now stood where Jareth was a moment before, ascended to the skies and soared away.

The Owl flew high and far, eventually landing in the center of his own new labyrinth. The castle, unlike the first time, was not at its center. Jareth, however, had made his castle an airborne haven, and he usually positioned the castle directly over the middle of the maze, which was only accessible by a door that required a key to unlock.

Jareth landed a few passages away from the center, perhaps to test the complexity of his own passages. He role-played Sarah's distress as he moved, talking to himself and making mocking displays of Sarah and her companions as he moved.

"Oh, Hogsheifer! This is just not fair!"

"Hoggle! Why can't anyone get my name right?"

"Thy lack of tolerance annoys the Lady Sarah! Dispense, Sir Hoggle! Or I shall turn you into a bone for Ambrosius!"

"Oh, shut up, Didymus! And stop calling me 'Sir'!"

Jareth put his fingers to his head, emulating Ludo's horns. "Wudo BORED!"

"We've got to finish this labyrinth soon! My time is running out! Maybe down _this _way!"

"An astute suggestion, Lady Sarah!"

Jareth then briefly went down to all fours. "Woof!"

He then stood back up, emulating Didymus again. "See? Ambrosius agrees!"

"Sawah ALWAYS wight!"

Jareth smiled as he walked along the final couple of turns to reach the expected end of the labyrinth...

...but his wry smile suddenly melted by what he saw there.

He took a few steps toward it, his eyes growing wider with surprise.

And then came the loud bellow of anger from behind the Goblin King.

The large hands of the horned, hairy beast then seized him...violently...before he could react.


	18. Chapter 18: The Iron Shadow

The sounds of a harpsichord filled every inch of Vestrie's mansion. It was time she needed to kill while she waited for her newest prize to finish her...adjustments.

Near where the Seelie noblewoman was playing was the young female servant girl dancing merrily around, to the tune of Vestrie's rich and elegant melody, the fingers coming down hard enough on the keys to transmit the melodies to the nearby extensions of the mansion.

Among them, the stables.

Sarah had collapsed against the outer door of her stable, feeling her muscles seize up in the beginning of their mutation. They were already visibly toned, and her white-furred arms draped over the door as her entire body shook uncontrollably, having digested the enchanted apples Vestrie had fed her.

Sarah could barely hear the music through her uncontrollable quaking, and the pressure at her wiggling, white-furred, equine ears, which had once again moved to the top of her head. The rest of her body tingled and prickled with the sharply-pulsing tensions wracking everyt muscle in her body, as if her ulnar nerve…the funny bone…had been struck, and she was feeling that very sensation attacking every inch of her body, lingering mercilessly as she changed.

She was already covered from her spasm-wracked head to her ankles…below which the feet were bulging completely out of their natural human shape…in more of the silky soft white fur, her dark hair once again running in a narrow black ridge along her mutating head, the nostrils flaring at her widening nose as her unicorn eyes stared down at her hands, which had swelled and bulged completely out of their natural human shape and were hardening to form equine hooves before her astonished, inhuman eyes.

And yet, there was no real pain. No sounds of bones cracking. No muscles being torn. Just dull aches and intense tingles anywhere and everywhere within her, despite the vivid mutating Vestrie's magic was visibly working upon her gradually-changing body.

Vestrie's music reached a rich, melodic swell as the little Sidhe girl spun around and around in balletic circles, giggling happily as she moved. Although it was but one harpsichord, the music from the single harpsichord sounded entirely symphonic.

Sarah's quaking head tensed up in an almost unbearable manner as her alicorn emerged from her forehead at the same time her face began to bulge and pulse forward to form her white-furred equine muzzle, her head and neck broadening even as the muscles tensed and toned so severely, she feared she would be driven to permanent insanity with the extreme sensations she was not only feeling, but seeing. She could already hear herself breathing out in equine whickers as she felt a thick black tail once again swish at her equine posterior, as it had when Vestrie partially changed her.

Her equine body grew bigger and bigger, her body abandoning her mere human shape in favor of the unicorn's full size. There was no point in attempting to maintain a human posture. She was already on all four of her hooves before it became physically impossible for her to stand on her hind legs.

And yet, a flicker of her awareness…the very notion that she was supposed to be human…remained in her mind. It seemed to share her more equine wants. To trot. To gallop. To eat. To drink from the lake.

To serve.

She tried speaking a word, but it came out as a brief whinny as she staggered about, trying to get used to actually being on four hard hooves.

Save for that lingering consciousness that was Sarah Williams in her mind, not a visible trace of her humanity…aside from the black mane, matching the color of the thick black tail that had grown at the posterior of her otherwise soft white-furred body…remained.

It was then that the Sidhe stable boy walked towards Sarah, holding a soft white rope attached to a loop that surrounded the fully white-furred unicorn that clopped in behind him. The unicorn that brought Sarah here.

Jezebel.

The unicorn clopped up very close, and rested her head tenderly against Sarah's.

And then, the stable boy spoke. "Oh…I forgot to tell you. The party's been delayed for about an hour or two. Why don't you take Sarah with you to the fields, Jez?"

Sarah trotted alongside Jezebel before going to a full gallop, staying side by side with the mythical beast.

Despite her situation, it was to her absolute fascination that she had become the very same mythical beast. And it wasn't even agonizingly painful.

Sarah wondered if there was any means of communication between the unicorns. Being creatures of magic, she figured they could openly communicate with their owners. Perhaps some form of mental communication, much like what she had sensed when she was struck by Jezebel's alicorn.

For the moment, however, it didn't matter. All that mattered to her now was keeping pace with Jezebel, and when they finally reached the fleet-footed fields, their pace quickened, and they began to gallop as fast as possible.

And as they ran, Sarah the unicorn began to accept that she had come into a radically fascinating new life. One which she hoped wouldn't end too quickly.

A part of her wondered if it would ever end at all…and for the moment, that didn't sound so bad, either.

Jezebel, however, began heading in a direction other than the wide circle gallop they had been doing. It was perhaps time to pull the Lady Vestrie's chariot and draw her to the party she had been invited to.

Her exhilaration increased as she galloped alongside Jezebel, keeping pace with her. This was _wonderful!_ She felt wild. Free. _Strong_.

Vestrie's mansion came back into view, however, and the lavish white chariot had been pulled out from where it was parked and idle. The stable boy led Jezebel into her position where she would be harnessed. The bonds didn't look like the typical leather straps. They looked softer, and more pleasing to the eye.

Sarah felt this same manner of harness slip over her. This would be a first. Sarah Williams...or rather, Sarah the unicorn...helping to pull a chariot. There was a strangely kinky fascination to that very notion. Oh, she had heard of that manner of fetish play where the submissive is fitted with equine attachments, but these were hardly attachments aside from the harness.

Sarah quite literally _was _a horse. Or rather, a unicorn.

She heard Vestrie giggle behind her, and a second voice she did not recognize was with her. She partially feared that she would then hear Jareth's voice, but the voices remained female, and she heard them mount the chariot. She then felt the soft reins pull up towards where the driver sat. She couldn't turn her head back to see who was driving.

And then, she felt an alicorn touch her own. A feminine voice followed in her head.

_Don't worry. You're doing wonderfully, sister._

The voice didn't sound anything like Vestrie's, so it became apparent that this sweet young voice she was hearing was Jezebel speaking to her.

_The driver does not use a whip. He just taps upon us using a long cane with a soft end. Two taps on the side means they wish to move forward. If you feel a sharp tug on the reins, we must stop._

Sarah tried to mentalize a response as the alicorn touch lingered.

_How…go…fast…?_

Jezebel nickered at this in amusement.

_He will call out to us to hasten our pace, dear sister. Wait for the taps, now._

Sarah then overheard one of the other occupants of the chariot nattering in a manner that caught the unicorn's attention.

"Ooooh! I _like _your new catch! Black mane, black tail…oh, they are going to LOVE you at the party! You get such rare perks!" The excited voice exclaimed.

"Yes, Sarah is quite a find." Vestrie answered. "Jezebel should be quite happy, as I'm sure Sarah will be. No more silly labyrinth for her. Jareth should find what happened to her quite amusing, I must admit."

"Disgusting place anyway, that labyrinth." Vestrie's partner scoffed.

"Let's get a move-on, driver." Vestrie then called out.

Sarah finally felt the two expected taps upon her posterior, and her four hooves began moving. The chariot began its journey as Sarah and Jezebel kept pace with each other.

The burden wasn't as difficult as she imagined it would be. Particularly with the surprisingly soft, yet firm harness she was wearing. They proceeded at a brisk pace, both unicorns keeping the chariot moving generously along the road.

It seemed like a good three hours before they finally came into view of another, larger palace. Every single person was clad in a leather vest and was wearing a mask. Some were wearing Victorian-era wigs, as well, and all the women were in ball gowns of various, eye-catching designs.

Once they stopped the chariot where the driver indicated they needed to settle in, Sarah heard the two occupants of the chariot disembark. She then heard them come up along Jezebel's side, speaking tender words to the unicorn.

And then, it was Sarah's turn.

She felt the Lady Vestrie's hand caress against her soft white fur with the gentlest touch, and she couldn't help but nicker in approval.

It was Vestrie's guest, on the other hand, that had Sarah's equine eyes widen with surprise.

It was not the servant girl, but it was certainly a Sidhe judging by the long, pointed ears…but this one looked exactly like Sarah did when she engaged in Jareth's hallucination during her travails with his first labyrinth. The Sidhe girl was dressed in the exact same ball gown, and was wearing the very same hairstyle.

Her face even looked as Sarah's own once-human face did back then.

This Sidhe girl stared in fascination as she, too, ran a hand along the black-maned unicorn's fur. Sarah was a little too shocked to respond favorably, however. The caress at least felt nice.

Still…if this was a trick from the Lady Vestrie, it was an exceptionally cruel one.

And behind this girl, other guests now wandered over to gaze upon this unusual-looking unicorn with the black hair and the black tail. Now Sarah felt many hands run along her huge equine body, feeling at her silken fur. Hands stroked at her tail. She was fed another fresh apple from a guest she didn't know. She was finally being regarded with great fascination by these Seelie folk, and many guests complimented the Lady Vestrie on being so uniquely blessed with having such an unusual-looking unicorn for a steed.

If Sarah were still human, she imagined she'd be blushing very deeply over all the attention.

This made her like this unicorn's life even more by consequence.

Through the crowds of fascinated fae folk, however, there was one face in a familiar mask. She knew it wasn't Jareth, but she remembered approaching this particular person…who had been staring at her…before Vestrie pulled her away to begin bewitching her with the possibility of an altered life she had now been given.

Sarah remembered Vestrie referring to this person as the "High Chamberlain".

Eventually, they all retired inside the palace for the revels, and Sarah now had a longing to go in with them. Alas, however, all beasts of burden needed to be left outside, and many of them were merely horses. In fact, Sarah noticed that she and Jezebel were the only unicorns in the entire lot.

Jezebel's alicorn touched Sarah's once again.

_Nothing to do but wait, I'm afraid. We should be well cared for, sister. You have no idea how wonderful it was to be able to ride with you. I'm so happy you're here with me, Sarah!_

An hour passed. Sarah was beginning to feel left out, and she longed to be dashing once again in the fields she and Jezebel shared. To feel the winds cascading over her soft white fur and her black mane. She heard the wild music and the revelry within the palace. A multitude of voices, all of them consistently happy and infectiously decadent.

Sarah idly ran a front hoof along the ground below, still acclimating herself to the feel of actually having hooves.

Her fascination, however, was cut short by the sound of a voice in her head. A voice she did not recognize…

…but, unbeknownst to her, the masked source was standing on a balcony not too far away, gazing down at the black-maned unicorn about two levels up from where the party was in full swing.

_Listen to me very carefully, Sarah Williams. This is the High Chamberlain of the Seelie Court speaking to you now. I know how this must feel to you at the moment and I can feel your fascination with it, but…I'm afraid I must remind you that you have a labyrinth to finish. Your time has __not__ run out. As I understand it, when one runs the labyrinth and somehow abandons it by taking a wrong turn, as you have, your allotted time effectively stops until your return._

Sarah silently, yet visibly reacted to this revelation. Could it be true? Could she feasibly resume? But then, how could she, now being bound to four hooves? And she wasn't entirely keen on abandoning her "sister", either…

_I'm going to see about having Vestrie leave the party early for fabricated reasons. Once you are back on the road, I will have my associate descend upon you and get you back into the labyrinth. Give him your full trust, Sarah. No matter what he asks you to do._

The voice then stopped speaking, and the next fifteen minutes were spent in silence. She glanced to Jezebel, and it looked like she was napping.

The Lady Vestrie then began walking angrily towards the chariot, murmuring and growling some manner of gripes Sarah couldn't quite comprehend. It was then that Sarah felt the taps at her posterior, and both unicorns began their journey away from the palace, no doubt going back home.

They were at the midway point in the journey when they suddenly heard the driver cry out in surprise, and Sarah suddenly found that someone had dropped gently upon her back. Vestrie cried out in alarm as well, being the only other occupant of her chariot, and Sarah heard the sound of restraints cutting. Sarah, the unicorn, had been freed from the chariot in the next moment, and the rider was directing Sarah to begin galloping as fast as possible in a direction he had indicated by nudges of his heels against her body. Vestrie cried out in loud protest as they distanced themselves from the chariot.

No doubt this was the trustable associate the High Chamberlain had sent on her back…but for all the possibility of resuming her time back in the labyrinth, she still could not help but feel terrible for the fact that she was abandoning Jezebel.

Still…her remaining consciousness was a reminder enough that she was supposed to be a human being, and not a four-legged unicorn. Still…if only there was some way to somehow bring Jezebel into the labyrinth…

She was liking the feel of having someone on her back as she rode fast and hard along the fields. Sarah even began to wonder if this associate the Chamberlain had sent was Jareth himself, but that seemed unlikely given that the Goblin King was apparently one of the "Unseelie".

Yes, Sarah found herself thinking now. Let me take you to wherever you wish me to go, noble rider. Let me show you how fast I can go. How far I can go. How strong I feel.

The rider, however, was leading Sarah to a familiar-looking archway. It was the exact same place she remembered seeing the masked stranger in the black robes. The one who drew a single dagger that effectively held the Lady Vestrie at bay. The one who had released Sarah from the chain Jareth had attached to Sarah's collar. The one who had given her comfortable footwear.

The glowing portal was big enough to accommodate both the unicorn and her rider, and Sarah galloped on through.

The rider leaped off as Sarah slowed to a halt, suddenly feeling very, very unsettled. Fearful. She suddenly felt like a pure angel who had wandered into the pits of hell, and was reacting to its counter-environment.

Sarah began to whinny wildly, glancing all around her and prancing awkwardly. No! She thought. Take me back to Seelie country! I do not belong here! Why have you taken me here?

It was then that the rider stepped in front of Sarah, and the unicorn confirmed that it was indeed the very same masked stranger in the black robes. She also centered her gaze upon what the stranger now held in his black-gloved hand.

It was a peach.

Her first instinct was to hurriedly clop forward and touch her alicorn to the stranger's head...but this was undoubtedly one of the fae, and somehow, she felt that this stranger wouldn't have as dramatic a reaction to the touch of her alicorn as she did when Jezebel touched her once-human forehead.

Sarah's gaze lingered on the peach, locked in indecision. Yes, she was told that she needed to trust this person, but she now imagined that it was highly likely this masked individual was in fact Jareth himself, once again bedeviling Sarah into becoming his prize.

Or it could be a cure to these terrible feelings that had so suddenly settled upon her equine mind in her return to the labyrinth.

Through unsettled, nervous whickers and snorts, Sarah clopped forward and permitted the masked associate to feed her the peach.

Moments after digesting the fruit, her white-furred body suddenly collapsed to the ground, quaking once again as the tingling sensations and the dull aches of a magical transformation returned.

The masked associate gently petted the unicorn as her pelt began to slowly recede, the hooves softening until they began to form the nubs of five female human fingers at the same time the distended mass of flesh that was once the hard hooves of her hind legs began to show the beginnings of toes.

Sarah just stayed still, lying on her side, as she felt her body begin to restore to her natural human shape, her face beginning to recede inwards at the same time she felt the alicorn draw inwards towards her skull, and her ears move down to the sides of her head. As she continued to change, she couldn't help but feel a profound sense of melancholy over the life she was now putting behind her. She had to admit that at no time did she feel like she was being punished or humiliated. She had been changed into a beautiful creature, serving a beautiful and majestic woman. Sarah had even warmed to Vestrie's rationale, too. Even in her altered life, she would have been able to see Jareth again, given Vestrie's association with him.

It seemed entirely depressing to her, by consequence, to finally see her human skin again. Her last thought before she felt her vision restore to a more human perspective was of Jezebel. She hoped, at some point, that she would be able to see her once again. Sarah could not help but secretly hope for the Lady Vestrie to come and pull her away, back to her mans...

...what was she _thinking? _Sarah's full consciousness seemed to hit her like a tidal wave washing over her. How many hours did she have left? How long was she out of it? Where in the labyrinth was she? And more importantly, where was her friends?

She at least recognized the masked stranger standing beside her, remaining completely silent. As Sarah shook her head following the restoration of her consciousness, a bundle of folded clothes were dropped beside her.

Sarah was quick to re-dress in the outfit, which was thankfully the same outfit she had been wearing. The key was even there, too, still in the right pocket of her jeans. As the fully-restored Sarah began to rise to her bare feet, the very same footwear the stranger had given her was also dropped down, and Sarah placed these back over her bare feet.

The stranger's gloved hand reached down to help her up...

...but upon being pulled upright, Sarah's reflex to grab at the stranger's mask was intercepted by a strong, lightning-fast grab at her wrist that prevented her from doing so. She struggled against this, but the stranger's grip squeezed, and Sarah winced in pain as he whipped Sarah's arm away, staggering the human woman back a bit.

The stranger's hand rose up once again and presented an index finger, waving it back and forth in a clear and wary indication that Sarah shouldn't attempt such a thing again.

"Who _ARE _you?" Sarah demanded. "Why the _hell _are you helping me?"

The stranger just stared down at her without saying one word.

Sarah sighed, but decided to try another tactic. "OK...obviously, you don't talk very much. Look...just nod your head yes or shake your head no. Can you at least tell me if you're Jareth? The Goblin King?"

The stranger's head slowly shook in the negative.

"Do I _know _you, at least?" She next asked.

This time, however, the stranger's head didn't shake, nor nod. It just stayed still.

Sarah crossed her arms stubbornly. "I'm not going anywhere until you give me a clue as to who you are."

A good five minutes passed. Both stood completely still. Their expressions did not change.

Sarah sighed in defeat. She at least knew she was back in the labyrinth, and that her allotted time had resumed, presumably the moment she was returned to it. She had wanted to just stalk away, but she needed to get her bearings. Get an idea as to where she was. Which direction she needed to...

The stranger raised an arm and pointed towards a nearby road.

Sarah stepped towards this road...and as she did, she saw a small group of familiar-looking individuals approaching where she stood on the road. One was a tall, hairy, horned humanoid. One was a fox-like humanoid riding a sheepdog and armed with a lance, and one was a wrinkled, wide-eyed dwarf wearing aged clothes.

Ludo was the first to spot her on the road. "SAWAAAAH!"

Clearly alerting the others, Sarah smiled as the group rushed up to her, Ambrosius padding up happily.

Sarah hugged Ludo first, wrapping his furry body tightly.

"Wudo _miss _you!" He tenderly growled.

"I have advantageous news, fair Lady Sarah!" Sir Didymus exclaimed. "The Goblin King hath _added _to thy time! Something about giving back time he had stolen from you twenty years ago!"

Sarah's expression brightened at this. "Really? That's great! We've got to finish this labyrinth soon before that extra time runs out!" Sarah examined the road. "Maybe down _this _way..."

"An astute suggestion, Lady Sarah!" Didymus remarked, hearing a bark from his canine steed. "See? Ambrosius agrees!"

Sarah now turned to Hoggle...but his gaze wasn't on Sarah.

It was on the masked stranger that remained where he was, continuing to stare upon Sarah Williams.

Sarah knelt down behind Hoggle, placing her hands upon the dwarf's shoulders gently and speaking gently into one of his large ears. "Don't worry, Hoggle. He's a friend. Well...for the most part, anyway."

Hoggle slowly turned his head to Sarah until his gaze met her own curious one. "Friend?" He began. "That..._assassin_...is your _friend?_"

Sarah frowned in surprise. "Huh? _Assassin?_"

"Sarah...that's one of the agents of the Iron Shadow." Hoggle warily explained. "It's an assassin guild used by the Seelie Court. If you've got one of _them _following you around, that's a _very _bad sign!"

"But..." Sarah glanced to the idle stranger. "...he's been helping me..."

"An agent of the Iron Shadow always waits for the best possible moment to cut your throat!" Hoggle warned. "Even if it means masquerading as a friend!"

"Oh, cease thy prattles, Sir Hoggle!" Didymus protested. "Lady Sarah has _enough _worries on her mind!"

What Hoggle heard from Ludo next, he didn't expect. "Sawah not fae!" He growled, shrugging in his rationale. "Why wowwy?"

"Yes, yes, I know..." Hoggle replied. "...their Iron Winter Blades wouldn't affect her like they would with us, but still..."

Sarah tilted her head, frowning. "Iron Winter Blade?"

Hoggle turned back to Sarah with an ominous expression on his face. "Those are terrible weapons, Sarah. Daggers forged in pure iron that can un-make a fae if they make so much as a scratch. It's a horrible sight to see a fae being un-made, or so they say."

"I fear _I_ hath seen one un-made." Didymus gravely reminisced. "'Tis a mournful, sad and horrific sight indeed to see one of our kind suffer the merest nick of those foul weapons."

Sarah looked over to where the masked stranger stood.

But he was now gone.

What she had been told, however, suddenly made this masked stranger all the more menacing to her. Sarah feared more for her friends than for herself. Perhaps this stranger was trying to get at one of her friends? Hoggle, perhaps? Or Ludo? And if so, why?

Sarah literally shook such concerns from her mind as she rose up back to her feet, wanting very much to resume her efforts to finish Jareth's second labyrinth. First, however, she felt she needed to get everyone else to focus.

"Alright, listen up." Sarah announced, stepping in front of her friends. "I don't want to hear anything other than what we need to do to finish the labyrinth. Now according to Sir Didymus, I have a little extra time, and I want to use that time to get us back on track. Let's start with this road and see where it takes us."

"Right behind you, Sarah." Hoggle confirmed.

"At thy service as _always_, milady Sarah!" Sir Didymus added, a bark of confirmation coming from Ambrosius as well.

"Sawah ALWAYS wight!" Ludo growled in agreement.

Sarah smiled. "Onward, then."

Sarah's friends chimed in as one. "ONWARD!"

With determined faces, the undaunted team took to the road, intent on following every inch of it if it meant taking them close to yet another victory for Sarah Williams.

The game had finally resumed.


	19. Chapter 19: The Forest of Fuddles

The road continued in straight lanes and slight curves before a landmark could be seen. Idle chatter between Sarah and her friends were exchanged, and Sarah had learned that Sir Didymus had chosen to make Ludo his Squire following an incident in which the fox-like chevalier witnessed Ludo being tormented...again...by the labyrinth realm's resident goblins, but Ludo turned the tables on the smaller wretches and when given an opportunity to take his revenge upon the group's apparent leader, Ludo chose to spare the goblin's life, despite having every justification to end it.

Sarah had also mentioned, during their journey along the road, of how fairies in the labyrinth were so different from those in the stories she had read as a child. She had managed to pressure Hoggle into sharing his own hypothesis that the "good" fairies Sarah had read about were likely those of the Seelie Court, and that wayward Seelie fairies who found themselves within the Unseelie labyrinth eventually became paranoid to the point where they would lash out at anyone, hence the fairy's notion of biting Sarah twenty years ago when she attempted to acquaint herself with the fae creature.

"So how do you do it, Sarah?" Hoggle then asked at one point.

Sarah was confused by this inquiry. "Sorry?"

"Twenty years, and you're still talking about good fairies." Hoggle explained. "I had thought you'd do the kinds of things that others in your world do."

Sarah now had a pretty good idea as to what Hoggle had meant by his question, but she wanted to confirm it. "You mean, like, I'm still reading old books about knights and monsters and damsels while everyone else puts on a pair of 3D glasses and watches impossibly beautiful teenagers spouting silly catchphrases fight over themselves on a big screen in a dark room?"

Hoggle blinked. "Um, yeah?"

Sarah giggled. "Don't ask me to explain all that. You're better off not knowing, but apparently that's what the entertainment culture in the, uh, above-ground has devolved into these days. Oh, you get a good enough story from time to time, but for the most part? The masses are embracing garbage these days. They can't even do proper justice to some of my favorite books when they get turned into movies. That's why I found it prudent to work at a library. I'm surrounded by pure, unchanged literary works while everyone else wants movie theaters...places that charge _way _too much money for admission...to be their library."

Ludo stepped up close to Sarah. "What thwee-dee?"

"Oh, just a little technological magic." Sarah explained. "Mostly a smoke-and-mirrors routine to hide a bad script, if you ask me. Normally flat images on a screen seem to come out of the screen when you wear a pair of special glasses they give you at the theater."

After a moment of comprehension, Hoggle turned back to Sarah. "You sure live in a strange world, Sarah."

Sarah slowly nodded at this. "Tell me about it."

Trees began to decorate the sides of the road as they continued to move along it, and they eventually came upon one which had a large strip of parchment attached to the bark. A message, in letters large enough to be seen from a pace away, imparted an ominous announcement.

**Turn back or be**

**IMPALED**

Sarah frowned in confusion, scanning the road ahead as the rest of her companions attempted to comprehend the message.

Just ahead, she saw a black tent of some kind on the opposite edge of a very long bridge over a deep chasm. The bridge looked wide enough to accommodate two lanes. On the other side of the bridge was a short passage that led into a thick forest.

Hoggle stepped over next to Sarah after giving the sign some thought. "This is new. I don't remember any bridge looking like _that_, and I've been around just about every inch of the labyrinth."

They then saw someone move out from behind the black tent. It was a small person covered in black metal armor armed with what looked like a jousting pole. This armored individual was also on the back of what looked to be an angry-looking canine creature. Sarah ventured an unspoken guess that it could be a wolf.

After this figure's steed padded out, the armored sentinel seemed to stare out to where Sarah's group had been located. As the group moved towards the bridge, the sentinel continued to keep himself facing them. Even when they finally came close to their side of the bridge, which now reminded Sarah of a medieval-era jousting lane.

Riding up to the midsection of the long bridge, the armored figure...whose long and pointed ears, angling out to the sides of his head, betrayed the notion of a goblin being under the protective layer of metal...began speaking in a surprisingly low and menacing voice.

"I am the Impaler." the voice intoned. "Turn back or die."

Sarah smiled, and turned to Sir Didymus. "Think you can take him?"

Now Sir Didymus's eyes were boggling at this chance. After so many years outside of any actual jousting, he was finally given a chance to prove his skill in the art. Even Ambrosious seemed anxious for the wild wagging of the sheepdog's tail, and his excited panting. The vulpine knight's eyes were already locked on the Impaler.

Ambrosius slowly padded past Sarah. "Watch me!" Didymus replied.

Didymus raised his lance in solemn salute upon reaching his end of the bridge. After a moment, the Impaler similarly raised his lance in salute. The black-garbed sentinel then directed his hungry-looking wolf to pad over to his end of the bridge, near his tent.

Sir Didymus lowered his lance down to its ready position, and waited. He didn't even blink, nor did he utter a single word. Didymus readied his shield, as well, for a potentially thunderous impact.

The vulpine knight wondered what kind of a signal was necessary for the charge to begin, being quite well-versed in jousting etiquette. There was usually a signal from the sovereign, but there was no sovereign here.

He then noticed the single black bird...a crow...perched at the left midsection of the bridge, standing idle.

The crow then let out a single *CAAAW!*

The Impaler charged. At the same time, Ambrosius fired himself along his side of the lane.

Sarah crossed her fingers. Hoggle's eyes were wide with anticipation, as were Ludo's.

Both riders closed the long distance quickly, and Didymus tightly gripped his lance, steeling himself for the inevitable contact...

**_BLAM!_**

Didymus felt the solid blow of the Impaler's lance, but while the impact forced him back a bit, he did not feel himself slipping from his mount.

The Impaler, on the other hand, had been knocked clean off his mount, and had landed right on his posterior with a resounding bang of metal.

Sarah smiled, and a cheer went up from both Hoggle and Ludo. Didymus won it! They advanced on the bridge...

...but the wolf on their end gnashed his teeth and growled ferociously upon them as the Impaler got back on his feet and stepped over to his mount. Sarah frowned in confusion.

"What's the big idea?" Sarah griped, once the black-armored goblin came within earshot. "You lost!"

The Impaler re-mounted his wolf. "Best two out of three." He intoned as he made his way back over to his side of the bridge.

Didymus returned to his side, but padded up close to Sarah upon seeing her worried expression. "I'd beat this one if it were three out of five, milady!" He assured.

Sarah smiled once again. "How's your lance?"

"As unbreakable as the day I earned it from a fair young Seelie maiden I saved from a troll!" Didymus responded. "Not too long after thy party in thy room, of course!"

The vulpine knight then assumed his place at the bridge, and waited.

*CAAAW!*

The riders surged forward. Fingers were crossed, and eyes boggled in anticipation.

**_BLAM!_**

Didymus shifted slightly upon his mount with this next hit, but remained securely upon the back of the sheepdog.

And, once again, the Impaler was back on his butt.

"STWIIIIKE TWO!" Ludo called out, raising two clawed fingers in emphasis.

"Last chance, kiddo." Sarah reminded the goblin as he re-mounted.

The Impaler didn't reply. He just moved back to his position on the bridge.

Sarah then wondered, however, if the sound of a sniffle...and a bit of a whimper...was actually coming from the armored goblin as he directed his mount back to his jousting position.

Hoggle looked up to Sarah as Didymus returned to his spot, and raised a thumb in emphasis. "We've got this in the bag." Hoggle assured.

Sarah, however, couldn't escape what she had heard from the goblin. She wondered if this was a case of someone _looking _dangerous as opposed to actually _being _dangerous.

After all...things in the labyrinth more often than not conformed to its golden rule.

Nothing is as it seems.

*CAAAW!*

The riders charged in for the final round.

**_BLAM!_**

Upon the hit, however, _both _riders remained on their mounts...but something much more dramatic had happened to the Impaler.

His entire suit of black armor shattered in a resounding bang, the plates clattering entirely away from a goblin that didn't entirely look as hideously misshapen, nor as wizened, as most of the other goblins of the labyrinth. He did have a pair of rat-like incisors for front teeth, and they protruded over his bottom lip as he stumbled off the wolf and then found himself screaming for dear life as he hung to the side of the bridge with two clawed hands.

Sarah gasped in surprise at this unexpected effect, and the others reacted with shock as well.

"HEEEEELLLLP!" The goblin screamed, in a voice completely unlike the low and menacing voice they had heard from him when he was in his armor. Sarah raced along the goblin's side of the bridge towards him...

...but she was again stopped by the snarling wolf, who was clearly not about to let Sarah reach his rider despite his situation.

The wolf looked hungry, as well, and after a moment, the beast began taking menacing steps toward Sarah, who began to backtrack as well.

"I...I can't hold on much longer!" The goblin cried out.

Didymus dismounted upon seeing this situation, and turned to Ambrosius. "'Tis a canine menace, my faithful steed, and thou dost know a thing or two of all things canine! Thou art directed...to PROTECT the Lady Sarah! DISTRACT the foul beast!" The knight raised a finger towards the human woman in emphasis.

Ambrosius, however, whined at this notion.

"I know! Look ferocious! Foam at thy mouth! SCARE the foul beast away!" Didymus suggested.

Ambrosius tilted his head, perhaps in a gesture of incredulousness.

The wolf, however, pounced forward unto Sarah...

...only to be caught in Ludo's grip! He held the beast aloft, with both hands, as the beast writhed and barked above him, trying to wriggle himself free from the hairy beast's grasp.

"SAVE GOBWIN!" Ludo called out, and Sarah once again dashed towards the midsection of the bridge, grabbing the goblin's wrist just as his grip snapped off the edge.

At the same time Sarah saved the goblin from his fatal plummet, Ludo managed to literally toss the thrashing wolf far from the bridge. The beast whined as he sailed into the air, and out of sight.

The goblin shook in Sarah's hands as she set the frightened creature down upon the ground. "Are you OK?" She asked.

"Thank you..." the goblin remarked, in a somewhat pained voice.

Sarah smiled, but she then heard Sir Didymus behind her scolding his own mount, and she turned to face the knight.

The goblin's ruse played, his sympathetic expression then turned to one of pure menace, as he carefully pulled a dagger from behind him and began to rear it back, hoping to cast it right into the foolish human woman's back.

"Don't be so hard on Ambrosius!" Sarah called out. "He's only a..."

Sarah was then interrupted by a loud cry which she knew was coming from the goblin she had just saved. It was a strange scream, however, sounding like he was pulled from his very existence.

She had turned her head quick enough to literally see the goblin's screaming face swallowed whole by the very air around him.

Behind where the goblin stood was Hoggle, and he had an odd-looking blade in his hand. Surrounding the blade was a rust-colored mist. As a shocked Sarah stepped up to the dwarf, she noticed that the blade was made of iron, and that the hand Hoggle was holding this blade in was shaking.

Ludo also looked wary of Hoggle, pointing at his weapon in emphasis. "Bad, _bad bwaaade!_"

Didymus padded up close enough to see what Hoggle was holding, and he gasped in horror.

Sarah frowned now. "What the hell did you _do _to him?"

"Lady Sarah..." Sir Didymus fearfully remarked. "...Sir Hoggle bears...an Iron Winter Blade! The Impaler has been _un-made!_"

"I had no _choice_, Sarah!" Hoggle protested. "That goblin pulled a knife! He was gonna _kill _you!"

"Where did you get that thing?" Sarah asked, still aghast.

"And why dost thou have it in the first place?" Didymus asked.

"I...I found it." Hoggle hesitantly replied. "Got it off the body of a...a dead Iron Shadow agent. Why do I have it?" He stepped up to Didymus in emphasis of his answer. "Because I'm sick and tired of being scared of the Goblin King! Scared of the Bog! Scared of...of being _scared!_"

"Give me the knife, Hoggle." Sarah firmly remarked, holding out her hand.

"No! I found it, I keep it!" The dwarf protested.

"HOGGLE!" Sarah cried out angrily. "Give me that blade RIGHT NOW! You're BETTER than this!"

Hoggle started to protest, but he stopped himself. He stepped up to Sarah and carefully handed her the blade. It felt warm in her hands, and she could smell the rust emanating from the edged iron of the weapon. As she was human, the touch of the blade offered no consequence, but the feel of the blade itself was ice cold, and she lifted the blade from the skin of her hand, holding it strictly at the handle. She then slipped the blade into her jeans pocket, seeing as how it was small enough to completely conceal.

Sarah looked back up to the dwarf. "You're not getting it back."

"Verily!" Sir Didymus added, but then he looked to Sarah. "Although in Hoggle's defense, milady...he _did _save thy life. Even if the means was questionable."

Hoggle's head was lowered, acknowledging his own shame. "Now you know why I don't wanna be a knight." He murmured, dropping onto his butt. "I'm too much of a coward."

The group stared at Hoggle for a long moment before Sarah finally took a deep breath, and stepped up to him. He then picked him up high, and he suddenly began to flail his limbs fitfully.

"Oh no...DON'T KISS ME!" He cried out.

But he was instead straddled on Sarah's shoulders, the dwarf's little legs draped over them. Sarah then held to those legs.

"I'm your steed, Sir Hoggle." Sarah then noted. "Every knight needs one, after all."

"How humble thy gesture, milady Sarah!" Didymus remarked in amazement.

Sarah smiled. "He's earned it." She then angled her eyes towards Hoggle. "Where shall I take you?"

"Huh? Uh...oh, come on, Sarah. Put me down! You don't have to do this!" Hoggle protested. "Besides..._you're _the one who needs to solve the labyrinth!"

"Then I guess I'll take you to where I need to go." Sarah remarked. She then moved forward, keeping Hoggle steady as Sir Didymus and Ludo followed behind them.

As they crossed the bridge, she found it a little more pleasant to carry the dwarf on her shoulders compared to pulling a chariot.

* * *

The group finally reached the forest that was beyond the long bridge. They saw that this particular forest looked dark and foreboding, and even the skies above seemed to blacken as they approached its edge.

Sarah placed Hoggle back on the ground. "Does this look familiar to you?"

"No." Hoggle replied.

Ambrosius began to whine fearfully as he gazed into the forest.

Sarah herself was beginning to feel a bit uneasy as well, looking into the forest. The path did lead into it, but she couldn't see past the ten paces or so that were visible.

"I feel like these woods could swallow me whole." Sarah chillingly observed. "Wonder if there's a way around it."

They looked to either side of the forest, hoping for an alternate route. From their current vantage point, however, the sides of the forest looked like they stretched for miles, seeming to form an impassable barrier. It was plainly obvious that the only option they had was to go through it.

"Stick together." Sarah warily advised. "Stay behind me."

Slowly, and carefully, Sarah began stepping into the forest. For all she felt in doing so, however, it seemed more to her like she was moving into an open mouth. She even sensed that the air around them was growing humid, and a thin fog began to form at their feet.

Faint whispers filled the air around them as they continued to move. Voices they could not make out, and single words that made no sense.

Sir Didymus then gasped in shock.

All eyes turned to what Didymus had found, and their gazes settled upon a neutralized creature with long, pointed ears angled out to the sides, a long nose, and bulbous eyes. The creature looked like it had once been furry, but the current color of its neutralized body seemed to indicate that something had happened to it.

Its entire body...every inch of it...was pale white. Its pelt was similarly white.

Sarah took a closer look at the creature, and she finally recognized this creature to be one of the Fire Gang that had threatened to remove her head twenty years ago during the wild revels she was briefly swept up in.

"Hoggle, look." Sarah gestured for the dwarf to step over. "Do you remember these things?"

Hoggle nodded. "They must have wandered into here. Or this area used to be their home before Jareth changed the labyrinth."

"But what in the name of the Seelie Court _happened _to this one?" Sir Didymus asked.

"Stay cwose." Ludo observed. "Evwyone. Stay cwose."

"Verily, Squire!" Didymus noted. "Strength in numbers!"

"And hope the road doesn't try to split us up." Hoggle warily noted.

"Lest we end up like _that_." Didymus indicated the neutralized Fire Gang creature.

_Do you fear this?_

The low voice resounded in all of their minds at once. Sarah. Ludo. Hoggle. They all received the same question in the same tone of voice. They all looked around in confusion.

_What __is__ fear? Why might it keep you from moving forward?_

This line of inquiry was applied to each from a different direction, compelling them all to move down along the road.

_Why do you move forward if you are fearful?_

This question came behind them, and the group spun around, startled.

_This path will take you out of the forest. It's much safer, and you would not have to fear._

Sarah spoke out at this. "We...want to go the other way. We _need _to."

_Then you must go __this__ way._

Again, the voice came from behind them, and they spun to face...nothing. Nothing but the road ahead of them.

"Where does this path lead?" Sarah asked aloud.

_Forward. Is that not where you wish to go?_

The group moved slowly and warily along the path...and after about twenty paces, the road suddenly split off in just about every compass direction. All the roads stretched out for about ten paces before dissolving into the darkness ahead.

"Where do _these _paths go?" Hoggle now asked.

_Everywhere. Some go nowhere. One, maybe more, to where you wish to go. You cannot know unless you choose, and act. Despite your fear. Wherever you choose will be where you wish to go, for you have taken the road once you choose it._

Sarah blinked, now wondering if the confusing voices were part of the reason the Fire Gang was neutralized.

"I smell a trap." Hoggle observed.

"Thou art not alone in thy wisdom." Didymus noted.

Ludo, however, moved onto a road and began walking down along it.

"Squire, wait!" Didymus protested. "We must stick together!"

Hoggle sighed. "Too late." He then turned to Sarah. "Whaddya think, champ? You pick the road, we'll follow behind!"

It was at this point that the voices split up into different hooks, based on each individual. It had already compelled Ludo down a road, and now it was Hoggle's turn.

_But the truth to defeating all you fear is down __this__ way, Hoggle. Face your fear. Follow me. I am __your__ road._

Hoggle then wandered down this road without another word. Sarah noticed him too late to stop him. "Wait!" She called out. "Where are you...?"

"We are being _bewitched_, Lady Sarah!" Sir Didymus surmised. Just as the ominous voice filled his own mind.

_But the greatest challenge a knight could ever face is down __this__ way, Sir Didymus. Honor thy courageous calling. Follow me. I am __thy__ road. Thy steed should join thee._

"VERILY!" Didymus suddenly called out. He then held his lance out along the road that had acknowledged him. "ONWARD, Ambrosius!" The sheepdog began padding along the indicated road.

"Sir Didymus! NO!" Sarah cried. "Don't leave me alone! Come back! Please!"

And then, the voice found Sarah.

_But the end of the labyrinth is near. So close, Sarah. So close, you could touch it. A few steps more, down __this__ way. Finish the Goblin King's game, and become a champion once more. Follow me. I am __your__ road._

But Sarah stood still. "No." She announced aloud.

_Then you will fear? You will stay where you are? In this forest? For the rest of your life? With so little time remaining?_

Sarah didn't respond. She continued to stay in place.

_Has the champion finally been defeated? Shall I feed from you __now__?_

This last bit caught her attention. Feeding? Was that why the Fire Gang creature looked the way he did? Because he had been _fed _upon?

"Did you..._kill _the Fire Gang?" Sarah then asked aloud.

The answer did not immediately come...and after a few minutes, Sarah concluded that the answer would not come at all.

She did, however, feel a touch at her back. As if an invisible hand had nudged her. She gasped, and spun. And saw no one.

Another touch at her back. Sarah turned. And saw no one.

Wildly nervous now, she finally surrendered to a road, and began to walk down along it.

She spoke as she walked. "Where are we?"

_You are in my forest._

"Define 'my'."

_Me. Myself. I. The self. Your self. Their individual selves. There cannot be a you or a me without the self. When you are with me, there is the we. Therefore, we are in my forest, a property of the self. Does that make me a property? How can it be, if the property is me? Does a property have the personality of a me? Or is it just a thing?_

Sarah began to feel funny now, but she tried to ignore it. Still...her mouth seemed to convey her sentiment before she realized it. "Trees don't talk."

_Yet they live. They grow, like you. They need food, like you. Why can you not be a tree, like me? Is a human not a tree covered in flesh? Or is it a different kind of life altogether?_

Sarah continued to follow the road, without replying. She began to feel cold as she walked. The road ahead seemed to go on forever, and there was no sign of any of the others. She could only hope that one or more of the roads had an intersection, and she could...

_Perhaps you prefer to be a horse? Did you enjoy it? Can you deny your heart? Will you deny your heart? Does the heart always come before the mind? Should you pay your heart no mind?_

The first question made her flinch, given her experiences with the Lady Vestrie. At this point, Sarah was beginning to feel irritated. "Why all these _questions?_" She cried out.

_Why deny a hungry mind? Perhaps you should feed it? Make me grow? I was left hungry, so I must feed._

"Is that why you fed on the Fire Gang?" Sarah openly noted. "Because you were hungry?"

_They were not enough. I need more. Just a little more. _

Sarah gasped in shock, glancing at the side of the road upon a large, hairy, horned figure she spotted and recognized...although he was now entirely white in color, and frozen in place, sitting upon the soil in front of a large tree.

"Ludo...!"

_It's not much further. Keep going. The labyrinth's end is mere steps away._

Sarah was extremely hesitant to keep going, but she had no choice. She had to push on.

Again, Sarah's voice seemed to speak independently of her mind, an occurrence which began to make her a little more nervous. "How...how much farther?"

_Mere steps._

"How _many _steps?" She now demanded.

_Take the steps and find out. There. A few more now, and a few more behind that. Without the step, you cannot ascend. You cannot descend. You cannot go forward, nor backward. Without the steps, life stops. Wears away upon you. As your patience wears away. How soon before the patience is gone? How soon before the color in you is gone?_

Sarah looked down at herself in morbid curiosity as she moved...and she stopped once again.

The colors on her vest had faded. They looked much more pale now.

Sarah swallowed hard as she also noticed her blue jeans were going pale as well.

She resumed her movement along her aimless road. "You're killing me, aren't you? Like you killed Ludo? Like the Fire Gang?"

_Like Hoggle?_

Sarah stopped again, her eyes boggling now. She had an urge to ask about Sir Didymus, but she refused to bring that up. She had a feeling she'd eventually see him and Ambrosius on the side of the road as well, victims of whatever terrible trap they had no choice but to fall into.

Sarah breathed a deep, shaky breath. "There's no end to this road, is there?"

_Life is a road. The only end to that road is death._

"I...I don't wanna die..." She found herself murmuring fearfully.

_And so you won't. But I must be fed._

"Which would kill me...?" She weakly asked.

_Food, Sarah Williams. Food. Mine is sap. Are you hungry?_

"Is that...what you did to my friends? To the Fire Gang?" Sarah fearfully asked. "Turned them into sap?"

_Sap runs through the veins of the plant. I require sap since the shifting. Life for life. This is fairness. You, like your friends, are here. Feeding is the only need._

Dizziness began to set in now. Sarah's pace slowed, and she tried not to stagger, but she was beginning to feel weak. Glancing at her hands, she saw that they, too, were becoming pale.

_The time draws ever near. You look tired. Rest. Get food later._

Sarah's voice was now a rasp. "Y...you're killing me..."

_Soon, Sarah. You have enough. Soon, your concerns will be gone._

Her body was terribly weak ten paces later. Her clothes were now completely white, and she could see that the loose strands of her hair were now white. Looking back down on her hands, they were white, and a bit wrinkled as well. Her shoulders hunched forward as she moved.

_Rest, Sarah. It is only moments now. All will be well. I will be well. Just rest._

"N...no..." Sarah whispered weakly. "...m...must...g..go on...road..."

_Are you not already on your road? Or are you referring to the veins you have been stepping upon?_

Sarah slowly raised her white-skinned, white-haired, gaunt-looking head at this. Her eyes also looked as if they were going blank. By now, they were just thin blue circles in a sea of white. Her mouth hung open and she seemed on the verge of dropping to her knees.

_You have been walking on my veins. Just like the others. How do you think I have been feeding? You need not walk any more. Struggling is pointless. Just rest. Settle yourself unto a tree, Sarah Williams. And let yourself slip. I am almost full._

With her breathing now ragged, she had no choice but to surrender. The road...the "vein"...was going nowhere. She was hopelessly lost. Swallowed by a strange forest that apparently relied on visitors to gain "sap" from. She was far too weak to go on. Another few minutes, and she would need to crawl on her hands and knees to move. The idea of resting against a tree seemed like her only option now.

She slowly turned to the nearest tree and began drifting towards it. Once she was there, she collapsed against it, and sank down to her posterior.

She could feel the last moments of draining at this point. Her vision began to dim. Her limbs lost feeling and dropped down.

And then, her head hung forward lifelessly.

At the center of the Forest of Fuddles, a clear glass jug of thick white liquid near a large and magnificent-looking tree filled itself with more of the sticky white sap it had been collecting with every visitor to the Forest. With Sarah Williams completely drained, the jar finally reached its rim.

The jar then gradually drained itself, its full supply of sap rushing into every inch of the large tree, which grew to its full size and vigor.

The ground beneath all of the forest victims...including the Fire Gang...then opened up beneath them, swallowing each one whole as if they were seeds.

A few minutes later, patches of the soil directly in front of the large tree then began to bulge out. Shadows could be seen inside each patch, and the shadows began to move.

The first to tear out of these strange, thin, latex-like cauls was Sarah Williams, alive and well, the color on her body and her clothes restored and her body flush with energy. She burst out of her caul and gulped fresh air in deep breaths, her eyes boggling in surprise. She heard murmurs from the other cauls around her, and from the one nearest to her, she heard a distinct canine whimpering.

Tearing this particular caul open, a sheepdog emerged from it and began licking happily at Sarah's face. Sarah then set to the caul next to this one and freed Sir Didymus. Hoggle was next to be liberated, followed by the only one who could possibly be in the largest of the cauls.

"Wudo awive?" The hairy giant inquired upon spotting Sarah's smiling face.

Sarah was about to begin opening the cauls holding the Fire Gang…but a loud and booming, yet gentle voice suddenly filled the air behind them. "Welcome back, Sarah Williams."

Sarah turned, confused, to the source of the voice...and saw an old man's face formed from the bark of the massive and very healthy-looking tree.

"I am id-drasil, the Tree of Truth. I apologize for the fuddles of my brethren, but your company was necessary to revitalize me." The face explained. "I do realize it must have been a scary thing for you, but I'm afraid the shifting of the labyrinth neutralized me. I needed life. The Fire Gang did not provide me with enough of it, but you and your company certainly made the difference."

"So…you're, like, a vampire tree?" Sarah surmised.

"Ho-ho-ho…oh dear me, no." id-drasil's large branches shook with the deep laughter of the tree. "To be a vampire means that you take something, but give back nothing. I had your essence preserved through a very special sap. It filled your bodies and prepared you and your friends for the rebirth that would follow once I was at full strength."

"Wait a minute…I've heard of you!" Hoggle noted aloud. "You were in the _last _labyrinth! You were at one of the wrong turns!"

"Indeed, I was." id-drasil replied. "Sarah never found me…but then, she never took too many wrong turns!" The old face within the bark then turned its eyes back to Sarah. "I won't bore you with the details, my dear. For bringing me back, I offer the boon of truth. Any one question may be asked, for which you will receive the undisputed truth. The offer is extended, likewise, to your friends. One question each."

Sarah turned to Hoggle. "You go first, old friend."

"Wh…me? But…it's _your _labyrin…oh, fine." Hoggle sighed, and then blurted out the first thing that came to mind, which gave Sarah a bit of a shock not just for the question, but for its answer.

"Does Jareth honestly, truly, love Sarah at all?" Hoggle asked.

"Oh yes, Hoggle." id-drasil answered. "It is a love he will never openly admit to, but he does indeed carry a torch for the champion of the labyrinth."

Hoggle gave Sarah a slight smile as he walked aside and let Sir Didymus have his turn.

"Dost Hoggle bear the qualities of a true knight?"

Hoggle's head whipped over to Sir Didymus, and he scowled. He didn't want to hear the answer, but…

"Indeed, he does, Sir Didymus." was the tree's answer. "Even if he will not admit it openly."

Sir Didymus then stepped up to a very surprised Hoggle. "There! Thou hast no excuse…_Sir _Hoggle!"

Hoggle lowered his head in contemplation of this.

Ludo now stepped up. "Can Sawah win?" He growled curiously.

"Sarah can indeed become the champion of the labyrinth once more." id-drasil revealed. "But it must be in a manner no one, not even Sarah herself, will expect."

All eyes were on Sarah now as she nervously stepped up. She needed a moment more to consider her question, for she had been thinking of one as the others had asked their own questions. Fortunately, Sarah was able to come up with a way to word her line of inquiry.

"How will I know…if I have beaten Jareth's labyrinth?" Sarah asked.

"To emerge victorious within this particular labyrinth, one must be able to pass through walls." The tree replied. "Only then will he learn the truth."

Sarah blinked. She feared it would be some kind of riddle, and this one was a bit of a doozy, by her perception.

She hoped, in time, that she would understand what id-drasil meant.

"And now, my friends, I will grant you safe passage out of the forest. Set upon the yellow brick trail I shall reveal unto you, and it will lead you very close to the center of the labyrinth." The tree instructed.

"What about the Fire Gang?" Sarah curiously asked. "Don't they get a turn?"

"I suppose all they would want to ask is if they could borrow my head, if not yours, or those of your friends." id-drasil mused. "In fact, I doubt they will want to ask any question at all, but they do indeed deserve the opportunity. I will see to their freedom by opening their cauls with my branches, but I suspect you will want to be long gone before I attempt such a thing."

Sarah smiled. "I think that would be quite convenient, thank you."

"Think long and hard on your truths." id-drasil reminded. "Especially you, Sarah Williams…and good luck."

A road of yellow bricks then appeared behind id-drasil, and the group hurried over to follow along it. Sarah recognized this to indeed be very close to the central labyrinth area where she had encountered the False Alarms.

As she and her friends walked, she could not help but ponder the truth she had been given. The only logical assumption to the notion of being able to pass through walls…beyond the literal meaning…was that there might be some kind of wall panel. Perhaps a hidden portal.

Or a secret door.


	20. Chapter 20: All Locked Up

Sarah recognized that the yellow road was indeed the very same path she had walked in Jareth's bizarrely-engineered homage to _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_, and Sarah shared the basics of that story with her friends as they proceeded down along the brick-laden route.

"Hmmm..." Sir Didymus found himself assessing the story's basics. "...a homesick little human girl, a heartfelt man made of tin, a fear-stricken lion, and a man of straw who wishes to be smart."

"Dog, too!" Ludo added.

"Verily, Squire!" Didymus replied. "Now consider our _own _fine company. The fair Lady Sarah, of course...myself, a brave knight...Sir Hoggle, of course...and my own stalwart and uniquely-talented Squire."

"And the dog you're riding." Hoggle then noted.

"Hm? Ah, yes. Ambrosius!" Didymus remarked. "An association of five fellows united in the quest!"

"I guess if it were Sarah's story about Oz," Hoggle observed. "I'd be the lion."

"Although I carry no axe, mayhap I bear affinity to thy tin woodman, Lady Sarah?" Didymus curiously asked.

"Oh, I think there's a little of that whole group in everyone, Sir Didymus." Sarah replied, then turning to Hoggle. "I can see where you might think you're similar to the lion, but I can also say you're about as smart as the Scarecrow for all your knowledge of the labyrinth. I could also say that Sir Didymus is similar to the lion because even though he _said _he was cowardly, it didn't really mean that he actually _was _cowardly. It's all a matter of perception. Dorothy's friends were presented as individuals who ironically had what they were asking for, but denied that they had them based on their own personal perception. The Scarecrow had always been smart, the lion the bravest in the land, and the tin woodman as heartfelt as he was when he was a munchkin."

"Still...ya gotta admit, it's pretty eerie when you consider the circumstances, champ." Hoggle observed. "Five individuals on a quest. We even have a dog with us."

"What Sawah do after wab-winth?" Ludo then asked. "Sawah go home?"

Sarah thought about this for a moment, and then nodded. "I guess so, Ludo. Even though my father passed away last year, I do have a few friends back home. I don't like how they're always cluttering up my Facebook page with all that stuff about politics and religion, but..."

"What Face Book?" Ludo asked.

Sarah smiled. "Don't take this the wrong way, Ludo, but...don't ask. Trust me. You're better off not knowing anything about that."

"If I may say so, Lady Sarah, I fancy thou art not entirely pleased with the thought of going back home?" Didymus then observed.

Sarah could not help but think on what the Lady Vestrie had observed during her time with the Seelie noblewoman. She was right about one thing. Sarah _did _feel empty outside of the world she currently inhabited. She had grown up wiser since her time in the labyrinth twenty years ago, but she still felt alone and isolated. She would probably feel even moreso if she did manage to go back home, given the fact that she had actually been affected by a magic spell that had turned her into a mythical beast. A part of her wondered if any observation of the emptiness of her life was a suitable revenge for Jareth.

After a long moment, Sarah turned to Didymus, smiling. "Maybe this time, I'll find a way to drag you all with me, if it comes to that."

Sarah now saw the areas where Jareth had attempted to lure her over into replaying aspects of the first Oz story. She saw the wheat field area where the straw-filled Jareth had been, the forest where the frozen tin Jareth should have been, and there was no sign of a lion with Jareth's hair anywhere as they made their way towards the locked door Sarah had managed to reach before encountering the False Alarms.

But there was a large rock in front of it.

"I had to climb over this to get to the other side, but I want to try something." Sarah looked to Ludo. "Can you move the rock out of the way?"

Ludo nodded, and stepped in front of the large rock. With a low, concentrated moan from the horned giant, the rock uprooted and soared to the side.

Sarah then produced the key she had in her pocket.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to climb over, Sarah?" Hoggle curiously asked.

Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "What's the golden rule of the labyrinth, Hoggle?"

Hoggle frowned in confusion...but then, it hit him, and he rolled his large eyes. "How soon I forget, champ."

Sarah smiled, and then turned to the door, placing the key in the keyhole.

It was a perfect fit.

With a one-quarter twist to the right, they heard the sound of a lock unlatching, and the large door swung out.

On the other side, however, Sarah's suspicion was confirmed.

Something other than the maze Sarah was in when she climbed over the wall was behind the now open door. It was, however, a strange, cube-like space, each wall not so much a wall as it was an identical locked door.

Sarah gestured for the others to join her, and the door slowly closed behind them. The space was pitch black until Hoggle produced a blue light source...in the form of an enchanted bracelet...from his bag.

"Don't ask me where I got this." Hoggle mused, and Sarah examined the claustrophobic space they had entered, quietly figuring it out.

"Mayhap another compelling new element to thy labyrinth, Lady Sarah!" Didymus observed.

"A puzzle of doors." Sarah guessed aloud. "Makes you wonder what role gravity has to play here."

"Space small!" Ludo growled.

"Pick a door, champ." Hoggle remarked.

Fortunately, Sarah had pulled her key out of the first door before entering the cube, and she decided to try the door right in front of her, seeing if the most obvious choice would prove rewarding. Once again, she inserted the key into the lock and gave it a one-quarter turn to the right, hearing the lock mechanism crank to the open position.

But the door opened back out onto the area they had just left. The very first locked door in front of the maze with the False Alarms. Clearly an incorrect choice. Sarah sighed.

"Wong door." Ludo calmly observed.

Sarah looked back into the cube. "Let's try the ceiling door."

She had everyone get back in, and Sarah found that they could actually walk up the side door, confirming her observation regarding the gravity issue. She was reminded of the Relativity Room when she placed her key in the ceiling door, and gave it a one-quarter twist to the right.

The door swung open to reveal...

...another cube of doors.

Sarah sighed. "Well...at least we're not back at the entrance."

"We won't be able to open any other door without closing the one we picked." Hoggle observed. "We could be spending a lot of time trying to figure out the right doors!"

Sarah frowned, acknowledging Hoggle's point while trying to figure out what the trick was to the doors. She tried a right-side door and once again applied a one-quarter turn to the right to the lock. Opening it up revealed another cube, which they moved into. Sarah then tried a left-side door, and this time, Sarah had Hoggle open the door a crack and peer into the other side.

Hoggle closed the door completely. "It's the entrance door area."

Again, Sarah frowned. "How do we figure out the right doors from the wrong ones...?" She quietly mused.

Ludo, however, was close enough to hear. He tilted his head curiously. "Knock-knock?" The furry giant mused.

Sarah blinked. Deceptively simple...and worth a try. She turned to Ludo. "Bang each door. Twice."

Ludo nodded, shifting himself around the space that was half his size. He knocked the surface door they stood on twice, and then the right, followed by the one in front of them, and then the left.

When he banged the left twice, a more hollowed version of the sound could be heard. Sarah stabbed the keyhole with her key and gave it a one-quarter clockwise turn. When the door swung open, another cube became available to them.

With Sarah and Ludo working together, there were nothing but cubes to progress through, and their advance was faster now.

They progressed through eighteen such cubes.

In Cube 19, which was large enough to accommodate everyone in the group without Ludo filling most of the space, a glowing, golden door could be seen. This one, however, did not have a keyhole. It had a large wheel.

Sarah looked to the others. "Let's hope this is the last one."

She placed her hands on the wheel...but Ludo's large, clawed hand settled on the human woman's shoulder.

"Turn which way?" Ludo asked.

"May thy guess be right!" Sir Didymus chimed.

"Or they'll be nothing left!" Hoggle mused.

After a moment of consideration, Sarah twisted the wheel to the right, opening up the door at their feet and dropping them down through the space below.

Fortunately, the fall was not a long one. Ludo was the first to land, while Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosius found their falls cushioned by Ludo's large body. Ludo came to his senses in time to literally catch Sarah, who was placed back on her feet. Ludo then rose to his own large feet.

Looking around their immediate area, they found they were in a north-south passage of some kind. Heading north, the passage turned left at its end. Heading south, the passage turned right. The right turn seemed farther than where the left turn was from where they were standing.

"Call it, champ." Hoggle remarked.

Sarah advanced north, following the passage past the left turn.

She had a strong sense that the end was near now, and her pace quickened to the point where the others had to remind her to slow down.

It seemed academic to her now. Where she needed to go was, logically, at the labyrinth's center. She took every possible passage that she believed would lead her to the center. Such was her urge to reach the center that she had almost completely forgotten about her companions, who struggled to keep up.

Sarah, however, wanted to be done with this labyrinth. Prove, without a doubt, that Jareth would have no power over her any further. Nor the Lady Vestrie, for that matter.

For all her determination, however, she did not notice the passages and wall gaps she had passed through suddenly seal up, effectively dividing each member of the group into different directions and separating them from Sarah...and each other...completely.

And then, finally, Sarah Williams reached the very center of the labyrinth.

But nothing was there.

Sarah looked high above, and saw that the Castle of the Goblin King was indeed there...but there was no Jareth. No indicator that she had reached the end. No booming announcement resounding all over the labyrinth.

After a moment of complete silence, however, she heard a deep, guttural moaning.

She now wondered if she had walked into a trap. A dead end, from which there was no escape.

She then remembered the words of id-drasil, the Tree of Truth, and she began investigating each of the walls, hoping to find a secret, openable panel.

Sure enough, the right wall swung inward.

She smiled wide, eyes boggling in her elation. "I FOUND IT!" Sarah called out.

It was at this point that she noticed that she was totally alone, and her smile melted to one of concern. "Hoggle?" she called out. "Sir Didymus?"

Sarah sighed, her face a mask of worry. "Ludo...?"

She couldn't even hear them. Although she entertained the notion to wait for them to reach Sarah, she waited a good fifteen minutes before the champion of the labyrinth hesitantly stepped through the open wall panel.

Sarah frowned in puzzlement over what she saw in the room behind the wall panel.

It was a darkened chamber, and at the center was what looked to be a large red sculpture. It was of particularly exquisite design, looking quite romantic and alluring in its stylistic, Valentine's Day-style heart shape. A long inscription had been etched into a script that ran along the length of the sculpture, but it was in a language Sarah was entirely unfamiliar with.

Yet, Sarah seemed drawn to this sculpture, and she stepped closer to it.

Was this her prize? Was this the indicator that she had finished the labyrinth? Was there some way of translating the long inscription? Sarah slowly paced around the sculpture, absorbing every detail of it.

Her thoughts were of Jareth as she continued to gaze upon it. Was this a formal admission of his love for her, at long last? id-drasil did, after all, say that Jareth truly had lingering affections for her.

It also seemed to make sense to assume that the "great prize" Jareth had referred to prior to depositing Sarah into the new labyrinth was perhaps a symbolic gesture of the Goblin King's true feelings for the champion of the labyrinth. She wondered if, at some point, Jareth himself would walk out at some point, close the distance with her, kiss her on the lips deeply, and the two would perhaps live happily ever after.

No doubt Sarah would even enter into Unseelie royalty as Jareth's Goblin Queen.

Before Sarah realized it, she found that she had placed a hand upon the smooth surface of the sculpture, and it felt comfortably warm to the touch. The blissful warmth began to spread through her entire body as her touch lingered upon the surface, and a smile slowly played on her lips as her mind became the sole spectator to a series of grand illusions.

Images of Sarah sharing romantic, tender moments alongside Jareth played in her mind. Finally freed of the banality that festered in the world above, she saw herself dancing alongside the Goblin King...her handsome Prince...in the ballroom once more, only this time sharing mutual affection as dancers around them gazed upon the couple in awe of not only their beauty, but their natural love for each other.

She next saw herself and Jareth on the backs of a pair of unicorns, riding through the fleet-footed fields near the Lady Vestrie's mansion, and although the vision was ominously curious for the fact that Sarah saw herself, still in her ballroom gown, riding a white-furred unicorn that she surmised to be Jezebel, Jareth rode a unicorn that looked very much like Sarah's unicorn semblance. White fur, black tail, black mane. Sarah regarded the oddity as nothing more than symbolism, however, and continued to smile blissfully upon seeing the images play before her unblinking stare.

Their lips met in the next image. The Goblin King was deeply kissing Sarah on the lips as Sarah straddled her legs to Jareth's hips, the slim Prince's arms holding her aloft as Sarah's arms wrapped around his neck and kissed him with visibly intense passion.

What she saw next, however, she also felt as well. Jareth had suddenly grabbed Sarah by her neck with what looked to be a gentle grip, but for some reason felt painfully tight, and lifted her up to the sky with a curiously angry frown.

The incapacitatingly solid impact with the hard ceiling above rudely snapped her mind back to the reality of her situation, as her hand had been gripped with a large, strong, brown-furred hand. She caught a musky bovine scent in the moment when her head had been wracked by a flood of terrible pain from her head savagely colliding with the ceiling in the grip of the creature that had seized her while she was in the midst of her enchanted bliss. Before Sarah blacked out completely, she saw large, curved horns on a bovine face that stared furiously up at her. His broad, solid-muscled body was covered with brown fur, and in his other hand, he held a very large Battle Axe.

She was barely able to comprehend the tall, brutish, broad-bodied creature to be a minotaur before her senses rapidly dimmed, and her body lapsed into complete unconsciousness.

* * *

To say that Sarah came to her senses suffering from a massive throbbing in her head was a bit of an understatement, and she needed a few minutes to keep her head from spinning after having had such a jarring impact inflicted upon her. Sarah felt like a complete amateur for having lost herself to the allure of something that she should have surmised was magical in nature...

...but she was at least happy that the images lingered in her mind, and a part of her hoped that the images would become a reality. She hoped that she had been shown an image of the future to come in the life of Sarah Williams.

She grasped her head in pain, once again ripped from the dream and back to reality, and an ugly smell registered as she stirred within the dark, damp, and grimy dungeon cell into which she had been placed. A fortified cage with thick metal bars could be seen on all four sides of the 10' x 10' space of the dungeon cell, and she didn't hear anything other than the occasional drop of water upon the mossy stone floor and the tinkling of chain links. Sarah was still, at least, in her clothes rather than in some manner of prison rags, although her clothes were now damp and grimy.

She was also, apparently, the only person inhabiting a dungeon cell. The cells around her were empty, and no manner of moaning or pleas for release could be heard.

Moving shadows, however, caught Sarah's attention as she continued to rub at her damp-haired, throbbing head, still trying to recover from her massive and sudden head trauma.

The shadowy figure clearly moved toward her cell, a silhouette outlined by the dim lights shining behind him, and no footfalls could be heard with the masked visitor's approach, making it seem like he was perhaps floating just above the ground rather than walking. It wasn't until he was standing right in front of the solid bars that Sarah recognized this black-cloaked stranger to be the very same agent of the Iron Shadow that had been aiding Sarah for unrevealed reasons. Immediately, she remembered what Hoggle had said, and she gazed upon the masked stranger with considerable suspicion. They look for the best possible moment to cut your throat, she remembered Hoggle telling her.

Had her time come? Was this all a grim setup? Was the masked agent about to kill her?

The latter case seemed all the more apparent when the Iron Shadow agent quite literally passed through the cell bars, and stared down at Sarah with curiously human eyes.

His gloved right hand then moved towards the mask on his face, and he slowly pulled the ceramic covering off, pulling his hood down at the same time with his other hand.

Sarah's eyes went wide with shock as the face of Steven T. Graves...her therapist from the world above...now gazed down at her with serene, disarming eyes.


	21. Chapter 21: Judged and Punished

Graves smiled. "I think an impromptu therapy session is in order? No charge this time."

Sarah looked a bit pale, however. "Why not? You're going to kill me anyway, aren't you?" She rose to her feet. "Isn't that why you're here?"

Graves lowered his head, sighing. "No, Sarah. That's not why I'm here at all."

"You're an agent of the Iron Shadow, Steven." Sarah firmly remarked. "I'm tempted to ask you for refunds!"

Graves brought his eyes back up to meet Sarah's wary gaze. "Sarah, calm down. I'm not here to kill you at all."

Sarah tilted her head curiously. "Are you here to get me out? I'll have to decline that, too, after what Hoggle told me about the Iron Shadow."

"I serve the High Chamberlain, Sarah." Graves remarked. "He asked me to protect you, not to kill you."

"But _why?_" Sarah couldn't help but sound completely frustrated.

Graves needed a moment to find the words, but they eventually came. "The High Chamberlain thinks someone in the Seelie Court is trying to set you up for something that involves the goblins. It could be an act of revenge. He may be trying to use you to get what he wants. You'd be helping me, for one thing, by describing the item you found when you went into that hidden room at the labyrinth's end."

After a moment of consideration, Sarah went into a full description of the sculpture, and its effects on her. She also described the minotaur who had rendered her unconscious.

Graves frowned at this. "A _minotaur?_ Hmmm...no such creature exists among the fae folk..." Graves then looked back upon Sarah. "...but you've at least confirmed the High Chamberlain's suspicions."

"Which are?"

"Around the time you began making your way through Jareth's labyrinth, one of the Seelie nobles...an annoyance named Angaron...reported the theft of the very artifact you described to me, which was intended to be a gift to a Grand Duke among the Seelie nobles. The Grand Duke's claim was genuine, but...well, he may use the fact that you touched the item with human hands against you in the trial proceedings that will begin shortly."

Sarah's eyes widened. "_Trial?_"

"I'm afraid so, Sarah." Graves replied. "Prince Angaron discovered your unconscious body near his creation, and in a situation like that, Angaron doesn't give anyone...especially humans...the benefit of a doubt. He does not...or in many cases, chooses not to...entertain the notion of anyone being an innocent victim of circumstance. He just goes right for the throat, pressing charges. In your case, however, the High Chamberlain fears that you may become a pawn in Angaron's latest scheme."

"To do _what?_" Sarah asked, clearly distraught at this sudden complication.

"We are trying to figure that out, Sarah." Graves answered. "I do expect, however, that the High Chamberlain will be able to clear you of any wrongdoing Angaron might accuse you of. We may even be able to get you back home."

Sarah's next line of inquiry was inescapable. "What about Jareth?"

Again, Graves took a moment before answering. "Jareth was also found unconscious near the artifact. He was taken before you entered the final maze section. He also stands accused by Angaron, but for a different matter. The High Chamberlain, however, will be hearing both cases separately."

"So Jareth is here?" Sarah asked. "Is there any way I can see him?"

Graves shook his head. "No. Not until after both of your cases have been adjourned."

"What are Jareth's chances?" Sarah sounded unusually anxious as she spoke. "Is there a possibility he'll be acquitted?"

Graves smiled. "If only Toby could hear the concern in your voice, Sarah."

Sarah sighed. "He never hurt Toby, Steven."

"No, but he did threaten to transform him." Graves reminded. "If you failed to complete the labyrinth the first time..."

"I know, I know, but...well, I'm just happy he's not mixed up in this mess I'm in." Sarah remarked. She then looked to her therapist with a curious gaze. "So is this the real you I'm looking at? Or does your human appearance mask a brownie, or something?"

Graves chuckled at this. "Actually, my circumstances are not much different from yours. I got mixed up in a Seelie plot purely by circumstance. Unlike you, however, there was no way back home for me. The High Chamberlain was good enough to personally intercede on my behalf, and...well...he gave me the only job I could hide behind, seeing as how I was deprived of my own humanity."

"What were you turned into?" Sarah asked.

"I was made one of the Sidhe, actually." Graves revealed. "Steven Graves isn't even my real name. Among the fae folk, my name is Stave."

"But...I was told that a human becoming a Sidhe is treated like..."

"An abomination, yes." Stave nodded. "And that, Sarah, was my tormentor's full intention."

Sarah tilted her head curiously. "What happened to this tormentor? Was he caught?"

Stave frowned at this question. "I thought _I _was supposed to be the therapist here."

Both Sarah and Stave shared a chuckle at this irony...but in this moment, the appearance of a Sidhe guard interrupted the moment. "The mortal's moment is at hand." He calmly intoned.

Stave gave the guard a nod and he placed the mask back on his face, bringing the hood up as the guard spoke a single word...presumably in the native language of the Sidhe...and the thick bars of the cell rose into the ceiling, allowing Stave to guide Sarah up a set of marble stairs to the columned building by the Golden Lane where her trial was to proceed.

Coming up the stairs, Sarah found herself in a large space outlined by an outer row of long white marble columns. A ridged slope provided seats to spectators, of which there were a surprising abundance, many of which Sarah surmised to be some...if not all...of the guests at the ballroom party where she met the Lady Vestrie, who was also in attendance. She gave her a sweet smile and a slight nod of acknowledgement. Next to her was the young Sidhe servant girl, who also smiled upon spotting the "beautiful human". Scanning as much of the crowd as she could, she saw no sign of Ludo, Hoggle, or Sir Didymus. The crowds were mostly made up of Sidhe, but there were small folk among them as well, some of which were the more traditional variety of dwarves.

Murmurs rippled through the crowds as Sarah stepped through the space in the center towards a dais, where the High Chamberlain stood waiting for Sarah to arrive at her designated spot for the trial proceedings. Below the High Chamberlain, to his left, was a dark-haired man who gave Sarah a somewhat disgusted look when he spotted her, and she correctly guessed that this was the Sidhe Lord, Angaron.

He looked like he wanted to squash her like a bug.

Undaunted, Sarah gave him a sarcastic grin.

Once Sarah was in position, the High Chamberlain...who wore red robes, and who was clad in a half-black, half-white metal helmet covering all but his eyes and his mouth...picked up a small mallet and touched it to a chime on the right side of the table in front of him. A loud, sweet, high sound filled the air, and the mumblings of the crowd went dead silent. After a moment, the High Chamberlain struck this chime once again. He then placed the small mallet next to the hanging chime and looked to the assemblage.

"By the chime of innocence, and the chime of guilt, this trial is now in session. A mortal is in our midst who stands accused of the theft of an ordained artifact, and a noble property of the Seelie Court." The Chamberlain's eyes then settled on Sarah. "The accused will now make her plea."

Sarah took a deep breath before answering. "Not guilty."

Angaron sneered at this. Sarah saw this sneer, but ignored it, keeping her full attention on the High Chamberlain, who nodded in acknowledgement of her plea.

The High Chamberlain then glanced to Angaron, much as he found it displeasing to do so. "The accused may now speak upon his charge."

Angaron described the circumstances behind the creation of the artifact in question, the heart-shaped sculpture intended to convince a longtime acquaintance of the Grand Duke's heartfelt affections for her. Through his descriptions, it became apparent that the artifact would not have provided the images that played out for Sarah if she did not truly love the Goblin King. Perhaps this was more apparent now, given the revelation made by way of Hoggle's unexpected inquiry to id-drasil.

"And how do you surmise that the artifact found its way into the labyrinth?" The High Chamberlain inquired.

"Well, it seems perfectly plain, does it not?" Angaron explained. "In setting up his new labyrinth, there needed to be an indicator that Sarah had completed her task. Jareth clearly sought out my artifact, and had his goblins acquire it. No doubt Jareth wanted Sarah herself to believe she truly loved that miserable wretch, even if she wouldn't openly admit it."

The High Chamberlain frowned in confusion. "Yet...you openly accuse _Sarah _of the theft?"

"My artifact is _worthless _now, its sole charge spent." Angaron griped. "Upon contacting the artifact, the enchantment is laid. That, High Chamberlain, is what Sarah stole. The artifact, which I spent quite a lot of time and effort to create, and can be considered among one of my finest works, is nothing more than a mere sculpture now. I suspect the Grand Duke will be most enraged when he discovers this."

The High Chamberlain looked to Sarah now. "Did you willingly touch this artifact, Sarah?"

"I had no intention to do so, High Chamberlain." Sarah explained. "I was gazing upon it, trying to figure out its inscription, but it was in a language I could not understand. The next thing I knew, my hand was upon its surface."

"So this was not a _conscious _desire to contact it?" The High Chamberlain asked.

Sarah shook her head in the negative. The High Chamberlain's head turned back to Angaron.

"A Sidhe's memory is quite advanced compared to that of a human..." the Chamberlain looked briefly to Sarah. "...no offense intended, of course..." He turned back to Angaron. "...so perhaps you can share with us just what was on this...inscription? In full english, if you please."

Angaron blinked at this. He now looked flustered. "Uh...th..that was a detail I needed help with, High Chamberlain. I...I'm not sure...if this person is present, I had to go really far and wide to..."

The High Chamberlain raised a hand in restraint. "Allow me." He then looked to the crowd and gestured to a brownie...a humanoid as small in stature as a dwarf, with flared, high fluffs of hair for eyebrows and ears a little taller in height than those of the Sidhe, the tips reaching a few inches past the head...in the front row, who rose to his feet and stepped up to the High Chamberlain.

"You are Scribe Vonce?" The High Chamberlain asked.

"'Tis I, High Chamberlain." the partially bald, gray-haired brownie confirmed, in a somewhat growly voice.

Angaron began to look extremely nervous now.

"And you were ordained to engage in the application of an inscription designed to render an effect upon a specific individual?" The High Chamberlain asked.

"'Tis true, High Chamberlain." Vonce replied. "'Tis a need to put the eye to the letter, following the wordstream to its natural end. 'Tis the effect that is made."

"What manner of effect, if you please?" The Chamberlain inquired.

"'Tis a need to apply a skin of five long digits." Vonce revealed. "'Tis the accused, the inscription was applied for! 'Tis a puzzlement that inscription was not for Grand Duke!"

Angaron could barely hold his fury over this apparent betrayal by the brownie who had assured him he would keep a secret. Sadly, Angaron never asked if there would be a price for keeping the brownie from openly revealing these secrets in a courtroom, haughtily assuming...without confirmation...that the brownie would comply with his requested confidence. Yet, Angaron was barely able to keep his composure.

Sarah, however, scowled openly to Angaron.

The High Chamberlain smiled at this, trying not to look visibly relieved. "Thank you, Vonce. You may return to your seat." Vonce gave Sarah a cordial nod as he moved back to his place among the spectators.

Angaron then glanced to Vestrie, who wagged a finger to him shamefully, mouthing the words "bad boy".

"With this evidence so entered in truth, Angaron, shall I once again find you in contempt of charge?" The High Chamberlain openly mused to the Sidhe Lord.

Angaron, however, had yet to drop his bombshell...and with the preliminaries out of the way, it was time to inflict the killer blow. "No, High Chamberlain."

Sarah blinked. She frowned in confusion. It seemed like this matter with the artifact was more or less resolved.

Then it hit her at long last.

The Iron Winter Blade she had taken from Hoggle was no longer in her pocket. Her face went pale with this discovery, but tried to keep her composure.

The High Chamberlain, however, looked amused by this refusal from Angaron. He angled his head towards the Sidhe Lord. "Pray tell, _why?_" He wryly asked.

"If Sarah Williams is so innocent, High Chamberlain..." Angaron then produced a thick white cloth covering from behind him and began uncovering what it was hiding as carefully as possible. Once the weapon felt open air around it, the rust-colored mist began emanating from the Iron Winter Blade Sarah had taken from Hoggle. "...perhaps she can explain why she had _this _on her person when I found her?"

The murmurs that ensued were loud, and each and every face in the area...Vestrie included, and particularly that of the High Chamberlain...was struck with absolute horror. The eyes behind Stave's mask were also wide with shock at this revelation.

"I risked being _pricked _by this blade when I searched her pockets!" Angaron griped. "In accordance with Seelie law upon which Sarah is being tried, anyone found in willful possession of the Iron Winter blade, unless they are in accordance with the Iron Shadow organization, is grounds for immediate condemnation! Do I not misquote this edict, High Chamberlain?"

Sarah shut her eyes, trying to hold back tears. She cursed herself for the oversight.

"SILENCE!" The High Chamberlain roared, the crowds once again going quiet. His boggling eyes once again settled on Sarah, whose own eyes opened, a tear rolling down one of them. "Sarah…how is it that you came to possess that weapon?"

Sarah outright refused to come out and admit that it belonged to Hoggle. She knew they would find him and condemn him. It was for his sake that she gave an answer other than the truth. "I…I found it. It was…it was near a skeleton s…somewhere in the labyrinth…"

The chime on the High Chamberlain's desk suddenly rang out a sour note, and another set of murmurs cascaded through the crowd. Stave closed his eyes in regret. He knew what that sound meant.

The High Chamberlain himself closed his eyes, sighing. "You're _lying_, Sarah."

He then stepped away from his desk and moved straight up to where Sarah was standing, an intense expression on his face. "I need the _truth_, Sarah. Otherwise, I have no choice but to rule _against_ you! Now I will ask you again! _Where did you get that blade?_"

Tears continued to stream down Sarah's otherwise resolute face. She outright refused to betray Hoggle.

"I can't tell you." Sarah weakly replied. "I _won't _tell you!" She then cried out.

The High Chamberlain slowly went back to his dais, and back behind his desk. He then turned and centered his stern, accusing gaze back upon Sarah Williams as Angaron grinned in satisfaction.

Vestrie looked a bit disgusted with Sarah now. At the same time, however, she seemed a bit anxious, wondering if the fact that she had marked the human woman meant that Vestrie could have a hand in Sarah's sentence.

The High Chamberlain hesitantly picked up the small mallet and, despite the regret on his face, banged it twice against the chime. The die had been officially cast now. "Sarah Williams, you have been found Guilty on _two_ charges. The first, that you were found in possession of a forbidden weapon. The second, that you have refused to reveal the truth as to how you came into possession of said weapon. Though it is noble that you may be protecting whomever it was that truly provided you with the Iron Winter Blade, you must now suffer the consequence in this person's stead. Have you anything to say before your sentence is proclaimed, and implemented?"

Sarah felt like time had stopped in that moment. She was shaking uncontrollably now, fearful for whatever manner of punishment was in store for her. She wiped tears from her face as she stared forward blankly. "No." she quietly replied.

The High Chamberlain had to swallow a lump in his own throat. He did not want to do this, but he now had no choice. In these matters, he held the responsibilities of judge, jury, and executioner. He was at least content that by their laws, he could not pronounce a death sentence upon Sarah.

But he knew what he had to do was something that would be extremely difficult for Sarah to cope with. She would at least, however, be alive. He also came to realize that what he was about to do would free Sarah from another misfortune a certain Sidhe noblewoman had inflicted upon her.

"Sarah Williams…" The High Chamberlain began. "…you have come upon the societies of the Seelie and the Unseelie bound to a mortal form. For your crimes, you are to be sentenced to a permanent alteration. In defiance our our laws within our Seelie domain, your mortal guise…and your mortal identity…is now forefeit."

A look of horror washed over the face of the Lady Vestrie. This sentence effectively meant that the mark she had laid upon Sarah would be erased.

She would no longer have power over her.

The Lady Vestrie, however, regained composure once the High Chamberlain's hands began to glow.

Sarah herself made no visible reaction to the proclamation, fully intending to embrace it as per her conviction. It was by her sole perception, in that moment, that she was to be brought back under the Lady Vestrie, and she would perhaps be permanently bound to the form of a unicorn.

It never occurred to her at all, however, that this was not the High Chamberlain's intention.

She didn't even notice the High Chamberlain approaching her with his arms outstretched to the sides. A bright yellow glow that reminded Sarah of weak sunlight could be seen on both of his hands, and Sarah could feel the intensity of the energy as the Chamberlain approached her.

"Please forgive me." The High Chamberlain whispered unto Sarah.

He then settled his hands upon Sarah's shoulders as the mortal woman closed her eyes, taking one last deep breath as a human being.

The energies of the High Chamberlain's magic power then surged through her, and the tingling she had felt during her transformation into a unicorn similarly filled her human frame here, although it was ten times more intense as Sarah Williams squinted her eyes shut with the unbearable surge of magic that had deadened her nerves prior to beginning its reshaping of the human woman's mortal frame.

She felt her ears begin to change, and her body height began to diminish. She couldn't acknowledge much else as her own body shone with a sunlike brilliance, obscuring all details. Sarah felt herself diminish further, and further, in size.

As much as she didn't want to cry out with the intense pressure surging through her, there was only so much of this effect she could take. An ordinary human would have been driven stark raving mad by now over the energies reshaping the body, but Sarah had struggled to resist the urge to scream.

But even the champion of the labyrinth had limits, and through the pressures and the energies torturing her body, the diminishing of her size gave her a grim clue as to what she would see when she saw her new body...her new identity...for the first time.

Throwing her changing, glowing head back, Sarah Williams screamed.

And that scream dissolved from a human cry of anguish to a somewhat guttural one. The energies began to dissolve within her, the cells of her new body settling as the creature Sarah Williams had become dropped to the ground, covered in her own clothing. No trace of Sarah's new body could be seen, but a humanoid form could clearly be acknowledged as a quivering lump hiding beneath clothes that were now too big to fit her.

The High Chamberlain wiped a tear from his face as he made a second proclamation, placing emphasis on Sarah's new identity. "Zahra shall now be taken from this place, and relocated to the Unseelie territory known as the labyrinth."

Vestrie's head drooped, her eyes shut in lamentation.

The High Chamberlain's eyes never left the quivering lump on the ground in front of him. "Hearing adjourned." He quietly proclaimed, and the crowds rose from their seats. At a nod from the High Chamberlain, Stave moved towards Zahra and gathered her up, keeping her now small form concealed in so doing.

Angaron stepped towards Vestrie, the satisfied smirk still on his face. "Well, my dear. Justice is..."

The slap was as vicious as a balled fist, and Prince Angaron flew halfway across the space from the vicious blow. A furious look was on the Seelie noblewoman's face. "YOU SHUT UP!" She roared. She then moved to one of the building's exits with angry steps, giving her the appearance of an upset child lost to a conniption. She shoved aside anyone that stood in her way.

Angaron needed a moment to recover from the blow, and before he rose back up, he saw the High Chamberlain standing over him.

"You _disgust_ me." The High Chamberlain hissed angrily before walking away from the vengeful nobleman.

None of these displays of petty spite made any difference to Angaron, however.

The first part of his plan had been successfully implemented.

Now he had to figure out how to make Zahra the perfect puppet.

* * *

Stave did not say a word as he re-entered the labyrinth territory, and his dark-robed form then took to the skies until he reached the airborne castle of the Goblin King. He chose to slip Zahra in through one of the windows of the castle's spires, accessing a staircase leading down to Jareth's throne room.

Upon entering, he saw a handful of goblins rush up towards him, but Stave pulled his own Iron Winter Blade to hold them all at bay as he looked for an area that passed for a bedroom.

He quickly found Jareth's private quarters, which not only had a bedroom, but a large mirror. A large painting of a handsome-looking goblin seated on a throne wearing an ornate crown could also be seen on the wall opposite the mirror.

Stave gently placed Zahra's quivering form upon the bed, and after confirming that they were alone in the room, Stave removed his mask and wiped a tear from his eye. He then craned his head down towards Zahra's concealed form and gently spoke, loud enough for the buried humanoid to hear.

"The game is _not_ over, Zahra." He revealed. "You still have time to find the secret door."

Placing the mask back on his face and restoring the hood, Stave floated back out of the room, disappearing from sight.

The form within Sarah's clothes stopped shaking upon hearing this revelation...and after a moment, a four-fingered, clawed, green-skinned hand finally reached out from beneath the mass of clothing.

The humanoid figure grabbed a handful of silken bedding, and a green-skinned humanoid with large, pointed ears jutting out on either side of her head emerged, pushing aside Sarah's clothing and crawling to the edge of the bed. The raven-haired creature then jumped down to the ground and staggered over to the large mirror.

Zahra could not stop shaking. She was terrified of what she was about to see. She already acknowledged the dread of having four-fingered hands tipped with claws. She hoped she wouldn't look as bad as any of the others in Jareth's menagerie.

But upon finally focusing her eyesight upon the mirror image staring back at her in shock, she at least confirmed what she had been turned into.

She was now kin to Jareth's obnoxious menagerie.

She was also bound, by this terrible circumstance, to truly acknowledge Jareth as her King, and for the most obvious of reasons.

She was a goblin.


	22. Chapter 22: Fits of Bravery

"Jareth, King of the goblins of the labyrinth," the High Chamberlain began. "you have been found guilty in the accused larceny of artifacts created by the Lord Angaron. Recent aptly-mitigating circumstances, however, have effectively altered your sentence."

The Lord Angaron scowled to the High Chamberlain. The Chamberlain, of course, ignored this.

"Have you anything to say before the sentence is passed, Goblin King?" the High Chamberlain asked.

"That is dependent on the sentence, High Chamberlain." Jareth calmly replied. "If I am to be given a choice to surrender one of the items I have stolen, I think it would be prudent for me to return the crystals I took, seeing as how Lord Angaron, by all perceptions, has no balls."

Angaron's face flared with fury at the double-meaning of this statement. The High Chamberlain, however, visibly strained to keep from smiling at this.

The High Chamberlain managed to compose himself, and then nodded slowly. "Done."

Angaron's eyes went wide with disbelief. "BIAS!" He roared. "I want _VANITY!_"

The High Chamberlain maintained his composure in spite of the outburst, extending his hand towards Jareth, who produced the stolen crystals and gently cast them over to the High Chamberlain. The crystals gently flew to the open hands of the High Chamberlain.

As much as Jareth was grateful for the reduced sentence, the Goblin King was nevertheless hurt by his being deprived of the crystals that had served him so well in his time serving as King of the goblins. He had hoped he could keep the knowledge of this loss from his own menagerie, for if word had gotten out within the labyrinth that Jareth had been significantly de-powered, he might lose control of his own charges, and perhaps even lose the labyrinth itself.

Angaron, on the other hand, was entirely incensed over the unexpected favor that had been granted to the Unseelie creature that was Jareth. His win was worthless, too. He had already created a pair of crystals to replace the ones the Goblin King had stolen.

Now, he had _two _pairs of crystals. He couldn't combine their power, either. He had applied the "rule of two" upon them. One could not work without the other. No more, no less.

"This hearing is adjourned." The High Chamberlain calmly spoke, glancing to Angaron.

The much-disliked Sidhe Lord approached the Chamberlain. "_Bastard!_" He growled. "You _dare _to take the side of the Unseelie!"

"I take the side of _justice_, Angaron." The Chamberlain firmly replied, looking the treacherous Sidhe Lord right in his angry eyes. "You have already condemned a mortal. I imagine you might have gotten what you wanted had you sought to put Jareth before me rather than Zahra...or rather, the person Zahra _used _to be."

"Who is this Zahra you speak of?"

The High Chamberlain heard Jareth behind him as he made his inquiry. He closed his eyes in regret. He didn't want to just come out with it bluntly.

Angaron, however, wanted to lay the pain on thick, already adopting a mocking tone of lament. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Jareth. You haven't heard? It seems y..."

The High Chamberlain laid his own Sidhe magic upon Angaron, relocating him out of the room before he could speak any further. And he did it with a single click of his fingers.

He then turned back to Jareth. "It's easier if you head back to your castle, Jareth, and find out for yourself."

Jareth frowned in confusion. "You're letting me go? Shouldn't I be 'rotting in a cell' for the rest of my...?"

But the High Chamberlain spoke nothing further, turning and departing from the columned building as four Seelie guardsmen surrounded Jareth to escort him to the portal doorway that would bring him back to the labyrinth.

Jareth and his guard escorts were the last ones to abandon the columned building. The Seelie spectators had already left. With no one in the area of the Golden Lane, it was left idle once more, ready to serve as the backdrop to the next incident that would ferment courtly intrigue.

They wandered aimlessly through the maze, separated and lost. Hoggle. Sir Didymus. Ludo.

Looking fruitlessly for a path to the middle of the labyrinth.

They were completely unable to find Sarah as well. She had disappeared entirely. Even when they tried to find each other, they could not.

Only Hoggle found something other than walls, passages, gaps, and dead ends.

He had settled to the ground right in front of him as he hurried to another dead end in the maze. A black-robed humanoid figure wearing a porcelain mask, surrounded by a black hood.

Stave's human eyes glowered upon the dwarf, who stared upon the Iron Shadow agent fearfully.

"P...please don't un-make me..." Hoggle implored, in a weak voice.

Although most of the time, when an agent of the Iron Shadow was in his or her mask and cloak, they stayed silent. There were, however, very few occasions where it was necessary to intimidate through the use of an ominous voice, generated through the enchantment of the mask. The voice was deep and commanding, and by its very nature, it would generate fear in those who heard it.

When Stave spoke, he used this very voice, which only Hoggle could hear.

"A mortal woman has been condemned for your theft, dwarf." Stave intoned.

"M..mortal...?" Hoggle then began to think. His memory of Sarah's name was now hazy, for the High Chamberlain's alteration was so thorough and so powerful that all memory of her previous identity had been erased from all living minds. Still...Hoggle knew who Stave was referring to. Only the identity was lost to him. "But...w...why can't I remember her...?"

"She is now known as Zahra." Stave replied. "She has been judged, and altered."

"Wha...oh no...no, not...not...!" Hoggle stammered, clearly upset. He sank to his knees, his head lowered in regret. "And it's all my fault...!"

"It is because of Zahra that you remain free of blame." Stave continued, keeping his deep voice firm. "She chose to suffer on your behalf."

"NO!" Hoggle covered his ears as he whined. "Please, no more! Leave me alone!"

But Stave surged forward and grabbed the dwarf's arms, shoving him against a wall as he squealed fearfully. His angry human eyes stared upon Hoggle's own boggling, frightened orbs.

"Where did you _find_ that blade?" Stave growled. "_Why didn't you try to __return__ it?_"

Hoggle could only mutter now, and he closed his eyes in sorrow and self-loathing as he whispered his self-condemnations. "Hoggle, you wretch...you scaredy-cat...you miserable, bog-fearing...cowardly...blot!" He then opened his eyes wide, staring unto Stave's own human eyes.

"Un-make me." the dwarf then whispered, his voice breaking. "Wipe me from creation. I don't know what manner of imagination gave birth to me...but I can't bear it any further!"

Stave said nothing, but continued to hold him against the maze wall.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Hoggle whined. "Pull your filthy blade and get it over with!"

"_STOP!_" Stave roared.

Hoggle, however, fought through his fear, and his own defiant scream could be heard by his lost friends in the furthest portions of the labyrinth. "_NOOOOOOO__!_"

Hoggle then broke down in a fit of mournful sobbing. "Zahra..._why?_" He muttered, as Stave finally, sympathetically lowered the suffering dwarf to the ground, where he dropped on his knees in his lament. "Why for _me?_"

"Hoggle." Stave intoned. "If you can tell me...if you can _show _me...where you found the Iron Winter Blade, I will take you and your friends from this place."

A long moment of silence followed as Hoggle considered this.

"Hoggle, none of you will escape here without my help." Stave reminded. "If one of my brothers has fallen, I need to know who."

"All I've known an Iron Shadow to do is to kill." Hoggle muttered, still burying his face in his hands. "Just get it over with. I'm so _tired _of being scared, you hear me? I'm _tired! _I'm _tired of being __scared__!_"

"Then look at me, Sir Hoggle." Stave then intoned. "Face your fear, mighty knight. Linger your gaze, and tell me you are not afraid of one who only kills."

In emphasis of his point, Stave lowered to a knee, and angled his head towards Hoggle, coming as close as possible to him as he lowered his tear-drenched hands and slowly looked back up to Stave, fixing a gaze upon his eyes that he knew would never linger.

Stave brought his masked face closer to Hoggle, and the dwarf quivered visibly.

But he held the gaze. Somehow, he found the urge to maintain his stare upon what he considered to be the face of death itself, as it was by way of the reputation of all who were a part of the Iron Shadow.

He also remembered what he had been told by the Tree of Truth, which he knew for certain never lied. It became easier now for Hoggle to linger his gaze. His sorrow lessened.

In the next incredible moment, Hoggle's hands grabbed the lower edge of the porcelain mask and lifted it up, exposing the face of a male Sidhe.

A face that was _not _that of Steven Graves, either.

Hoggle saw the signs of an alteration, however. "Human eyes..." Hoggle's eyes widened in utter shock. "...an abomination...!"

With the mask off, the true guise of the mysterious Stave looked similarly lamented. Inside, however, Stave wasn't upset over this surprise move, which he didn't expect at all. Hoggle had just acted courageously, and Stave hoped the lesson would stick.

"I should be just as miserable as you are, Sir Hoggle, for being made a mockery of a pure fae." Stave admitted, in his own, unaltered voice. "But I found strength. Like you just did."

Hoggle shook his head. "I won't tell her. I swear...I won't tell her!"

"Swear you'll bring me to where you found the blade?" Stave then asked.

"Yes! I will!" Hoggle nodded emphatically. "I swear!"

"Swear one more thing to me, Sir Hoggle."

Hoggle tilted his head curiously.

"Stop insisting you're a coward." Stave firmly noted. "I won't believe you."

Hoggle drooped his head. Not out of irritation, though, for he ironically felt that he had lifted a great weight from his conscience. "As you wish." He replied, after taking a deep breath.

Stave nodded. "Let's get you and your friends out of here, then." The Iron Shadow agent then placed the mask back on his head and pulled his hood up.

A few minutes later, Stave's own magic power held Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, and Ludo aloft in the skies above the labyrinth grounds. Having been told where to go, the five skyborne friends of the once mortal woman now called Zahra cast aside their concerns for the moment and enjoyed the ride they had unexpectedly received from a masked assassin who was meant to embody death.

At least, to everyone other than Hoggle, who now knew exactly why Stave was helping them.

* * *

The Goblin King was home once again. He hadn't spoken a single word after being taken to the portal, and he had hastened his steps for one inescapable reason.

He could no longer remember her name.

The mortal woman who had beaten his labyrinth twenty years ago. A woman he never thought he could ever find himself feeling affections for.

And if he could not remember her name, then a punishing spell had clearly been cast upon her.

Jareth walked past the new castle's courtyard, with its mounted goblins...all of them armed with lances...patrolled the area routinely. One of them rode up to him. "My Lord Jareth! Sad news...the Impaler has been un-made!"

Jareth didn't even stop to acknowledge this, speaking only one word in emotionless response. "Pity."

The Goblin King then stepped past the outer gate, never bothering to acknowledge the large, fat troll that was now guarding the flying stronghold. The four-eyed troll...with two sets of eyes, the second pair on the other side of his bald head...gave Jareth a single glance, which was all he needed to confirm the presence of the castle's master. With a grunt, the large, hairless, ugly sentinel...who was armed with a giant hammer...went idle once more.

The cacophany of his goblin menagerie, grouped in clumps all over the castle, went quiet as their liege lord made his way towards his throne room with somewhat hurried steps. The curiosity was killing the Goblin King by now. He ignored any who attempted to get Jareth's attention.

He had to confirm his fears as to who this 'Zahra' was.

Jareth pushed open the lavish double doors to his quarters soundly, immediately scanning the interior of his bedroom, which he knew to be inhabited given the dissheveled nature of his double-bed.

It was when Jareth turned his head to the large mirror that he finally saw the small, green-skinned, raven-haired goblin gazing upon herself, with a bit of an empty expression on her face. Her four-fingered hands remained on the mirror, and she looked frozen in place.

The Goblin King folded his arms in front of him, frowning down upon the goblin girl. "Zahra, I presume?"

Zahra's arms dropped back down to her sides, and her head lowered. "That's what they called me..." Her voice sounded much younger now, as if Sarah Williams...the human Zahra used to be...were only ten years old.

Jareth's frowning expression did not change. "Turn around and look at me, goblin. Your King demands it."

It stung to have been acknowledged as a goblin, but this was a fate she had no choice but to accept. Zahra slowly turned to face Jareth, still clutching the pillowcase she opted to use to cover herself.

Jareth at least saw some familiarity in the goblin's face. This was indeed the champion of the goblin monarch's first labyrinth, and he had to admit that she didn't look too bad as a goblin. But then, most Seelie magics involving physical transformation worked an often visibly attractive framework by nature. This Zahra, however, needed a bit of grooming. Her hair flatly hung down to her waist, and she had no makeup whatsoever. He noticed that her two rows of teeth were ridged in the manner of a shark, and her nose was a bit bulbous in shape.

The Goblin King finally poised an index finger towards her as she timidly stared up at him. "That won't do." He then noted. "I'm not about to have a goblin such as yourself walk around covered in a pillowcase. I'm having you clothed in a manner befitting your status here."

Zahra feared the very notion of asking, but she had to. "And...w...what would that be?"

Once again, a menacing smile played on the Goblin King's face before he responded, and in a tone laced with a hint of triumph. "The Goblin King's personal servant."

Zahra sighed out, hanging her head in despair. "Jareth, haven't I..."

"Might I remind you that you are a _goblin _here, Zahra?" He then spoke in a firm, commanding tone. "And as a goblin, I expect you to know your place! I am the Goblin _King_, and you will address me appropriately! In fact, I believe I reminded you of that once before, didn't I, sweetness? Why don't you remind me how you are to address me from now on?"

Zahra closed her eyes, swallowing audibly. She really didn't want to give him this satisfaction.

"Or would you prefer I had you walk around without any clothes at all?" Jareth mused, his eyes flaring with conviction. "I'll have you bathe in the Bog of Eternal Stench, dear. I understand your meddlesome friends bathed some of my charges over there before I shifted the landscape. I could drop you in and from then on, you'll be the lowest and the most disgusting..."

"Yes, your Majesty." Zahra finally, quietly acknowledged.

Once again, the edges of Jareth's mouth curled menacingly upward. "Again." He intoned. "Louder, this time."

"Yes..." Zahra audibly swallowed again. "...your Majesty." The little green female goblin spoke out in a more firm tone, hoping Jareth would be pleased.

"Don't think I am not aware of what has happened to you, champion of the labyrinth." Jareth then noted. "And don't think that entitles you to any preferential treatment beyond your being mine, and mine alone. Are we understood, servant?"

Zahra didn't want to hear anymore, but Jareth was clearly wanting to lay the humiliation on very, very thick. "Yes, your Majesty."

"And do not think, for one fraction of a moment, that I haven't forgotten everything that has preceded this admittedly satisfying little occurrence. A proper fate for one who so rudely decked me." Jareth added. "In fact, we might as well assume that I have beaten _you _down this time, Zahra, seeing as how you are clearly in no condition to continue trying to solve my new labyrinth, no matter how much time you have remaining. But...take heart, love. At least, you won't need to become a grossly-overweight blob of helplessly-flailing mortal flesh for you to spend the rest of your life as my little...green..._trophy_."

Zahra's lips trembled now, and her goblin eyes began to water up.

Jareth's satisfied grin disappeared. "No. Stop that. Zahra, don't you _dare_..."

And then, Zahra howled out, dropping to her knees in a fit of loud sobbing. It was a very obnoxious-sounding round of bawling. Just the kind of thing Jareth _hated_. It was the one thing he ironically thought he'd have to endure, for a time, if he was able to turn Toby into one of his goblins twenty years ago. The transition period was the worst part of his responsibilities as the Goblin King for this very reason. "Zahra, I am your KING, and I DEMAND that you cease this blubbering at..." He sighed in defeat. "...oh, bother..."

"I DON'T _WANNA _GO IN THE BOG!" Zahra then cried out through her sobbing. "I WANNA _WEAR _SOMETHING!" She then buried her face in her arms, continuing her loud bawling.

"Oh, STOP. I was just going to get your new dress!" Jareth assured. Zahra then placed a bit of the pillowcase to her nose and let out a highly obnoxious _*VRRRRFT*_, blowing her leaking nose into the exquisite fabric of the pillowcase before Jareth could stop her. "NO, DON'T! THAT'S..." Jareth then sighed again in frustration, his eyes angled skyward in frustration. "...do you realize how _delicate _that fabr..."

"GIMME MY DRESS!" Zahra growled. "And GET SOMEONE TO FIX MY HAIR WHILE YOU'RE AT IT! IT LOOKS _TERRIBLE!_"

"Fine, fine...I'll get you your dress, and...and I'll see what _I_ can do about your hair." Jareth then assured. "Just...calm down, dear. Please. I _hate _seeing my property on a row!"

Zahra stuck her now purple tongue out at the Goblin King, who answered with a scowl before leaving the room once more.

If there was ever a grin to give someone the impression that the cat had, in fact, eaten the canary and gotten away with it, this was the kind of grin that now played on the face of Zahra once Jareth had left his quarters.

Her acting skills...retained from her days as Sarah Williams...had served her well.


	23. Chapter 23: Mask of the Abomination

At first, Zahra seemed content with her situation, even if it meant being put back in a more goblin-sized version of the Scullery Maid outfit that she once wore during her first stroll down the Yellow Brick Road of Jareth's Oz-themed area.

The dress she despised, in the time she wore it.

She wondered, however, if the ruse she laid in copping her vivid fit worked better than she imagined it would, given that Jareth himself had provided Zahra with a considerably fetching hairstyle for a goblin maiden. Two wisps of her raven hair, parted down the center, had been curled inward into small spirals on her forehead, and the rest of her hair had a mass of luxurious curls that uniquely alternated between inward curls and outward ones, with a long braid emerging from a gold dome at the top of her head, the well-crafted braid gently curving down her back.

The Goblin King was emotionless, and spoke not one word, as he groomed the once-human champion of the labyrinth.

Beyond this pampering, however, Zahra was then, unexpectedly, surrendered to the harsh tutelage of the familiar-sounding goblin from the Wall of Numbers area. The one who had the very same voice as the old hag, Caine, from the Library.

Among her fellow goblins, she was identified as Hagatha.

Hagatha, as she had when she was scolding Sarah Williams at the Wall of Numbers area, had taken to constantly calling Zahra a "spoiled princess", perhaps fully aware of who the small green goblin maiden she was so harshly training used to be.

"Dust around the outer edges, spoiled princess!"

"What? This meal was undercooked? His Majesty HATES raw meals, spoiled princess!"

"You must curtsey at _all times_ in the face of your superiors, spoiled princess!"

"You're such a spoiled princess! Re-set this table from scratch! It's an awkward _mess!_"

"Work that broom, spoiled princess! Every inch of this floor!"

"NO MOP BEFORE THE _BROOM_, SPOILED PRINCESS!"

The words just kept ringing in her head in the merciless training regimen she was receiving. There was no sign of the Goblin King anywhere, as well, in their vicinity at anytime during the training, so a protest to Jareth was impossible.

Time seemed to crawl during Zahra's time with Hagatha. If she was still, indeed, on the labyrinth clock, she imagined her time was most surely up by now. It would hardly make a difference, however, unless Jareth was planning to bring her back home, to the world above, held to her goblin form.

It was for this likely fear that she had to play along, but the pose was giving her a training regimen so extreme and so merciless that she found a lot of Hagatha's lessons sticking despite herself.

She even began to fear Hagatha more than she feared Jareth. That voice was downright wicked right from the first time she heard it when she appealed to Miss Caine...which was no doubt the ugly-looking goblin's human guise...for a job there. She imagined, back then, that it would be a challenge for her to persist in the job despite Miss Caine's harsh nature. Indeed, she was the Ebenezer Scrooge to Sarah's Bob Cratchit, if parallels to _A Christmas Carol _could be made.

Zahra didn't even need to fear retribution for wrongdoing. That voice...the old hag's very _voice_, which in her human days she figured she could tolerate...was unbearable enough. For as long as she did what she was told, and performed her duties as she was taught so repetitively and so mercilessly, she would not have to hear it.

With a full two days..._two whole days_...passing, Zahra now wondered if she was on the clock at all. Six hours and thirty minutes, Jareth had said. Even with the bonus time she had been given, she wondered...was she even bound to it any further?

After all, Jareth now, legitimately, had his prize. Zahra was a goblin now, and she was quickly becoming conditioned to serve as the kind of personal servant Jareth obviously wanted.

In those very few moments when she was allowed to rest, Zahra hung her head as she continued to stare down at her now four-fingered, green-skinned hands, the fingers a little more plump compared to her human fingers. This is your life now, Zahra, she thought to herself. Jareth has his prize. The champion has officially lost her second run in the labyrinth.

Why, then, did Stave tell her there was still a chance she could win? Was time no longer a factor? Could she now take her time in figuring out...whatever manner of solution the Tree of Truth was hinting at?

Pass through walls, the Tree had said. Only then would _he _learn the truth. Zahra remembered every word of what she had been told. The _he_ must have alluded to Jareth...but what possible manner of truth?

Zahra resolved, time or no time, to figure that out once she could be released from her training, and handed back over to the Goblin King.

She resolved that the game could once again actively resume.

Hagatha's voice snapped her back to reality upon making this resolution, and Zahra hurried back over to her, with her head bowed low as per her training, to resume the wicked goblin's unforgiving regimen.

* * *

Hoggle led Stave to an area not far from the new location of the Bog of Eternal Stench, and Stave settled the dwarf and his friends down before the remains of the long-dead agent of the Iron Shadow.

The remains were nothing more than a dusty skeleton now, lying in the dirt, the skull resting against a rock, and aged fragments of a porcelain mask littered around the skull.

"I found it a day before the goblins caught me and took me to the Bog." Hoggle recollected. "Before Jareth changed the labyrinth."

Sir Didymus, who had dismounted, looked over the remains. "He must have been broken up quite badly."

Ludo nodded. "Big fight." He growled.

Ambrosius began sniffing around the area, barking twice to his master, who walked over to the sheepdog as Stave slowly stepped over to investigate the remains of the fallen agent. Hoggle remained with Stave as he examined the broken skeletal remnants, picking up the skull and bringing it up to gaze upon the damaged ivory.

"Did you know this one?" Hoggle asked. "Or...can you _tell _if you know this one?"

Once again, the intimidating voice resounded solely in Hoggle's mind. "Yes." Stave calmly replied. "She was a good friend. The Rock Troll is also correct. This was indeed a long battle. With a large opponent."

Stave then began to collect the rest of the skeleton, treating all intact pieces with care.

"What was her name?" Hoggle quietly asked.

"Epona." Stave intoned. "She primarily worked in the Seelie regions. With her affinity for horses, she was given a magnificent unicorn steed named Aegeas. He was once a very shy unicorn. Through Epona, Aegeas became flush with pride for having served the Iron Shadow with distinction. He took the news of Epona's passing very hard. Humbled himself for a time. I do not know how."

"Should we bury the remains?" Hoggle asked.

"No." Stave replied. "There is one thing I need to do. It will properly attend to the remains."

Didymus and Ambrosius moved to Stave. "Though the marks are very faint, I believe whomever felled thy comrade was in possession of a bladed weapon. Its impressions still mar the soil. I fancy it was quite a large weapon as well."

Ludo tromped over and placed one of his large, furry hands against the rock where Epona's skull had rested against, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and turned to Stave. "_Weawwy _big fight."

Stave carried Epona's remains to a portion of the battle area, and laid them upon the ground in a pile. He then produced a series of smooth, shaped rocks from his black robes and placed them around the skeletal remnants, forming a circle. The Iron Shadow agent then lifted his mask up to expose his lips, which he then pressed against the top of the skull affectionately. The next item he pulled from his robes was a small vial, the thick liquid contents of which dripped down with the consistency of molasses. Covering the vial back up, the others heard the skull begin to sizzle as if it were being baked, and a mist rose up from the skull as the thick liquid began to dissolve the remains.

Stave lowered to one knee, pulling his mask back down, and looked to the gray-colored mist above the dissolving bones as it thickened to the point where images could be seen...and heard...within it.

Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, and Ludo also watched the images play out before their curious gazes.

* * *

Epona had pulled off her mask once more after dismounting Aegeas, as per her habit as they stood before the dark, idle cave mouth, revealing a beautiful, raven-haired Sidhe face that smiled over to her partner, the agent known only as Stave.

"Well!" Epona remarked. "That was fun. Every agent needs a little adventure or two at some point in their lives. Sure gave ol' Festrus a good run for _his_ scaly, acid-spewing money."

Stave just nodded.

Epona stepped over to her quiet partner. "It's just us here, Stave. Don't worry. No one will see you. Other than me, of course."

Stave lowered his head, locked in indecision. Epona lifted it back up with a slender index finger.

"Stave." Epona softly remarked. "You are _not _an abomination. Please...let me see your face again."

Stave naturally hesitated. In the next moment, however, he brought a gloved hand to the lower edge of his mask, beneath the chin, and pulled his porcelain mask off, exposing his human-eyed Sidhe face to the open air once more.

Epona smiled, tracing her fingers around Stave's face. "Mmmmm...you need to keep that mask off more often."

Stave once again lowered his face. "I'm more comfortable behind it."

Epona placed her forehead against Stave's. "You _shouldn't_ be. You're a good man. I know the Iron Shadow doesn't have the most wholesome reputation, but someone like you is proof that there aren't always bad seeds and undesirables and...bloodthirsty glory-roaders behind our masks. Why do you think they chose you to look after the champion of the labyrinth? The rank and file of the Iron Shadow doesn't usually get a job like that."

"That job is tougher than you think." Stave admitted.

Epona smiled. "For the obvious reasons." The attractive Iron Shadow agent then looked to the skies. "Should be about the time for your next appointment with her. You should get going. I can take it from here."

Stave nodded, and moved to put the mask back on his face...but Epona surged forward quickly and held Stave close, her Sidhe lips close to his.

"Not yet." She cooed. "One last daring gesture for the road. Something for you to remember me by."

Epona then slowly brought her lips to Stave's, kissing him tenderly. Stave could feel the genuine love behind the kiss, and he was astonished to have received such a gesture from a full-blooded, pure Sidhe.

Epona pulled back just enough to make another observation. "I've always wanted to know what kissing an abomination would be like." She smiled at this observation.

"Pretty disgusting, isn't it?" Stave gently mused.

Epona slowly shook her head. "Never. I should like very much..." She kissed his lips again. "...to do it again." Another kiss. "And again." A third kiss. "And again." A fourth, which lingered for a long and tender moment.

Epona then stepped slowly away, towards the cave mouth, her gaze lingering on Stave. "And when you see me again, I may just want to do it more often." With a sultry wink and the flash of a sweet smile, Epona placed her own porcelain mask back on her face and disappeared into the cave mouth.

* * *

The mist then dissolved, for the skeletal remnants had completely dissolved out of existence.

Stave's head lowered.

"That was the first time she kissed me." Stave intoned, this time not just to Hoggle. "It was also the last time I saw her alive."

Tears then dripped from the eyesockets of Stave's mask, the drops landing audibly on the dusty ground below.

Ambrosius whined in sympathy, padding over to Stave. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus joined the mourning agent of the Iron Shadow.

"Thou hast my _deepest_ condolences." Didymus quietly remarked.

Hoggle placed a hand on Stave's shoulder. "You want my help to find out whoever did this? You'll get it."

"Verily! And Sir Hoggle will _not _be the only one, either!" Didymus confirmed.

At this, a loud, menacing laughter...in a dreadful and demonic voice...suddenly interrupted the reverent moment. Hoofbeats then followed in the space in front of the group, and a large, bestial humanoid shape covered in brown fur bearing the horned head of an angry bull now stared furiously down upon them, a vicious-looking two-handed axe in his large, furry hands. The monstrosity was broad-bodied, every inch of him a mass of hard muscle.

Stave was already on his feet, the Iron Winter Blade pulled from its sheath. He had assumed a stance of readiness as Ambrosius growled threateningly. Hoggle and Sir Didymus stared at the bull-man...the minotaur...in surprise. Ludo began to moan angrily as well, perhaps assessing the area for loose rocks.

"You waste your time paying respects to a _pathetic _adversary." The minotaur growled, in his horrible voice. "She was _too easy_."

"Thou must not let his taunts cloud thy focus!" Didymus warned.

Stave, however, stood perfectly still. Ludo now moaned louder, causing the nearby rocks to shake.

"I broke your potential Sidhe mate well, abomination." The minotaur then taunted. "One can never truly defeat an opponent until you can..._taste _of their broken bodies."

Stave's body shook, trying to hold back his building rage, remembering Didymus's wisdom.

The minotaur then sent his axe in a furious arc directly above him. A large rock Ludo had sent to crush him cleaved in two pieces at the impact of the creature's large axe, the two portions of the rock falling harmlessly to the sides of the monster.

With Ludo's distraction laid, Stave surged forward, his Iron Winter Blade poised for a fatal stab. He was unsure if a creature like this could be un-made, but there was only one way to find out.

A trail of rust-colored mist traced the arc of the Iron Winter Blade as its owner plunged its deadly edge towards the broad breast of the large, horned beast, timing the strike as perfectly as possible, using Ludo's diversion to his advantage...

...and the blade found brown-furred flesh, burying deep into the hide with the impact.

"YES!" Hoggle cried, seeing the dreaded Iron Winter Blade connect with the monster's furred flesh.

The air should have begun swallowing him whole. The creature should have been screaming horribly, looking as if he were rotting away in the process of his unmaking.

But there was no such effect, even with the minotaur grunting in pain from the stab wound.

Stave's human eyes boggled as the minotaur's chest muscles seemed to tense up, and a contemptuous snort from the beast's flared nostrils sent a puff of mist into the Iron Shadow agent's masked face, the mist penetrating the openings of the mask. The strong, musk-like scent of the mist disoriented Stave's senses. He tried to shake the enchantment, but Stave had taken too much of it into him, allowing the bull-man to grab Stave by the throat and squeeze so tight, the agent felt his neck would snap at any moment.

"And now, I will break _you_." The minotaur growled. "Far more thoroughly than I broke _her_."

But the beast suddenly felt a strong yanking upon his axe, upon which he always had a very firm grip. Through gritted teeth and defiant growls, Ludo strained with all his might to pull the large axe free of the minotaur's grasp. Stave attempted to pull his blade free, even with the bull-man's hand tight upon his throat, but the minotaur's clenched chest muscles exerted a grip upon the weapon that the Iron Shadow agent was too dazed and too weak to free it from, and the beast literally threw the agent off of him, sending him flying to the side.

The minotaur, and Ludo, were about the same size as each other, and they looked as if their strengths were about even, resulting in a vicious battle of raw might as they attempted to wrestle for possession of the large axe. Unfortunately, there weren't enough loose rocks of any significance in the radius of Ludo's power to summon them, so the Rock Troll had to rely only on his brute strength.

Didymus and Hoggle rushed over to where Stave had landed. He was already trying to shake off the haze that had been forced on him through the minotaur's snort. The musk the bull-man generated addled the Iron Shadow agent's senses too severely, and he now knew what must have significantly factored into Epona's defeat.

"Stave!" Hoggle tried shaking the woozy agent. "Snap out of it, man! What happened?"

"Canst thou attempt another means of defeating the beast?" Didymus asked.

Stave's senses remained disoriented, but he nevertheless rose to his feet without saying a word and attempted to concentrate as per his training, bringing his gloved hands together as Ludo continued his attempt to pull the axe free of the bull-man's grasp.

Stave then pulled his hands apart, revealing a thin, glowing, crackling stream of rope-like energy. His right hand grasping a leather-bound handle, Stave shook out the remaining length of a crackling whip of lethal energy.

The minotaur's peripheral vision caught sight of the weapon's presence, and he wrestled Ludo to a position where he could keep the handicapped, yet undaunted Iron Shadow agent in sight.

With a thunderous report meant to intimidate, Stave cast the whip towards the angry minotaur, who winced at the minor lash inflicted upon him.

Ludo, however, used the lashing to his own advantage, rearing his head back and surging it upon the minotaur's own skull for a vicious head butt. With Ludo being a Rock Troll, his body frame was certainly capable of dazing the bull-man, and the blow was hard enough to daze the minotaur enough to allow Ludo to finally wrest the axe away from the brown-furred beast completely.

Another thunderous lash from Stave's whip attempted to wrap around one of the minotaur's legs, but the beast had quickly shaken off the momentary daze from Ludo's head butt, and he was able to avoid being struck by the whip's crackling energy stream.

Ludo growled loudly and, in his own attempt to intimidate the minotaur, smashed the handle end of the axe to the ground. Unaware of the axe's enchanted nature, a shock wave channeled into the ground and took the minotaur off his hooved legs completely, sending him down to the ground.

Ludo looked curiously to the large axe, and then turned his head to Hoggle and Didymus.

"Dibs." He growled, indicating his new prize.

Another vicious lash from Stave finally wrapped around the minotaur's leg, and a burst of powerful energy shot through the bull-man, who cried out in agony. Stave pulled back, knowing that the energy stream was much more intense when tightened, and the minotaur shook visibly from the stronger surge.

"HUZZAH!" Sir Didymus cried out. "A hit! A _more_-than-palpable hit!"

"LUDO!" Hoggle cried out. "Get in there and give that bully a good whack!"

Stave continued to tug upon the handle of his energy whip, hoping to draw the beast towards him, but the mass of the large bull-man made him a difficult creature to move, and he strained with the effort. Stave's dazed senses, and the aching at his throat, made his situation much more taxing as well.

Ludo tromped over, holding the minotaur's axe in both hands. The Rock Troll had no desire to strike the monster directly, but he had to at least try to scare the bull-man. He reared the axe up, hoping to bring it down as close to the minotaur's head as possible...

...and when Ludo brought it down, the minotaur was able to grab it before it struck, and Ludo found himself struggling once again with the beast's iron grip. Having fought through the agony of the intense energy wracking his massive body, the bull-man's other huge hand reached down to grasp at the energy stream itself, effortlessly pulling Stave himself in with one vicious tug.

Stave landed on the minotaur's body, and in the horned creature's flash of retributive, unrestrained fury, the beast wrapped the energy stream around Stave's head and his own axe. The energies of the whip now shot through the bodies of all three. Stave, Ludo, and the minotaur.

Only Stave and Ludo, however, roared in agony as the minotaur, who had tightened the grip the whip had on his two adversaries, let out a triumphant bellow.

The Iron Shadow agent, and his Rock Troll ally, both lapsed into unconsciousness, the energy of Stave's own weapon too much for them to endure. With the grip on the leather-bound handle loosened, the energy streams abated in intensity, and then disappeared entirely, effectively freeing all three from its grip.

Hoggle and Sir Didymus stared in absolute shock. They had come _so close _to a victory!

Both could not help but feel ashamed for their feeling unable to do much to help. They had both believed the minotaur far too large and far too strong for either of them to make much of a difference beyond perhaps causing some manner of advantageous distraction, but the battle was over before either one of them could implement such a tactic.

It was what they saw next, however, that shocked them even more.

The minotaur rose up to his hooved feet, snorting out in contempt. He then pulled the Iron Winter Blade from his chest at long last.

The huge form of the minotaur then began to change shape before their eyes. The creature diminished in size, the brown fur receding into pale, flawless skin. Its bovine ears then angled to the skies above as they morphed to become the ears of a Sidhe.

The minotaur had assumed the form of the Lord Angaron.

He smiled amusedly at the bewildered gazes of the two undesirables he had opted to spare his wrath, given his perception of their complete insignificance.

"Boo." Angaron began, chuckling menacingly.

Hoggle growled the name in disgust. "_Angaron!_"

Ambrosius growled loudly now, crouching threateningly, looking ready to pounce.

"How can this be?" Sir Didymus remained aghast, and for good reason. "Thou shouldst be _un-made!_"

"Silly chevalier." Angaron gloated. "Has it not occurred to you that minotaurs are not creatures of the fae folk? This damnable blade is nothing more than a pigsticker to the likes of me, you fox-bodied _freak_." He then turned his attention to Hoggle. "Well! Been a long time, dwarf. I figured after you provided me with the means to condemn that meddlesome human woman to her green-skinned fate, I figured I would reward you by letting you in on my little secret."

"I should _never _have taken you to the Proba-Brand!" Hoggle angrily lamented.

"Yes, pity indeed...but then, my quest would have failed, I wouldn't have that selfish, nattering tart Vestrie to tolerate, and I would have been entirely unable to solidify my political status in the Seelie society!" Angaron mused. "I owe _so much _to you, Boggle! Not bad for an undesirable! I'm tempted to ask you to help me subjugate the champion of the labyrinth. I...could reintegrate you among the Seelie, you know...appeal to the dwarves on your behalf...?"

"I'd sooner _die_, traitor." Hoggle defiantly replied.

"That can be arranged, you know." Angaron malevolently reminded, holding up the Iron Winter Blade. "Now that I have _this _little toy." He looked back over to the dwarf and the knight. "Or...you can just stay out of my way and reap the benefits of my little plan."

"And...how dost thou surmise thy evils to benefit us?" Didymus inquired.

"I fancy I might be scarring my chances, but...why not? You both define insignificance by your very actions." Angaron's tone then went sober. "I want the labyrinth, and the goblins who inhabit it. Jareth may have inherited it, but his own meddling shall soon cost him that prize. All I have to do is properly cage him."

"Just like that, eh?" Hoggle mused. "You really think Jareth's menagerie is going to stand for the loss of their King?"

Angaron then laughed out loud, highly amused. "Boggart...I am _counting _on his menagerie to _help _me depose that deceptive little wretch!" He then glanced down to the still-unconscious forms of Ludo and Stave as he continued to address Hoggle and Didymus. "I've no quarrel with either one of you, you know. You stay out of my way and refrain from any manner of meddling, and you'll both find my reign over the labyrinth domain surprisingly comfortable. I will give you my word that the goblins will never again trouble either one of you."

"How angelic be thy claim." Sir Didymus observed. "Pity thou dost, in truth, spew the poison of a _serpent_."

At this point, Ludo began to regain consciousness...but he stayed perfectly still, wanting to wait for the right moment. He was still very much spent, though. The best he could possibly manage was a distraction.

"_Minotaur_, fox-boy. Get the species right." Angaron shot back. "Yes, I bet you wish you were back on your horse, Diddy boy. No fur on your skin, with a perfectly human face..."

"That is _none of thy business_, cretin!" Didymus angrily cried out.

"Stay out of mine, and thou wilt not _have _to worry about me spreading the story of your rather embarrassing fall-from-grace around." Angaron calmly noted.

As Angaron spoke, however, he failed to notice a flash of white fur behind him. Hoggle, however, managed to catch sight of it.

After having seen the vision of Epona and Stave, he could only guess what it was that was trying to sneak up on Angaron. The dwarf just hoped he was right.

And that the horned creature was close enough to strike.

As much as Hoggle didn't want to just come out with it, he couldn't resist the amusing sentiment. "Speaking of an embarrassing fall-from-grace..."

The alicorn settled on Angaron's head just as his face frowned in confusion, and the mostly-unharmed Sidhe Lord reeled from the surge of energy that had once affected Sarah Williams.

As Angaron staggered, the unicorn...Aegeas...trotted quickly over to Hoggle and lowered his hind-quarters low enough for the dwarf to climb on. Sir Didymus immediately mounted Ambrosius.

"Wait!" Hoggle cried. "What about _them?_" He indicated Stave and Ludo.

At that point, Ludo wearily rose up and hurried over to drape himself on the back of the unicorn.

"We can't just _leave _him, Ludo!" Hoggle protested.

"Wudo _tired_." the Rock Troll weakly murmured. "Not stwong_._"

"We _must _hurry out of this place!" Didymus cried out. "Mount thy unicorn, Sir Hoggle!"

With a troubled glance to the still-unconscious Stave, Hoggle climbed up the unicorn's angled back, and the creature rose its hindquarters back up and began to gallop away, with Sir Didymus rushing alongside him as fast as Ambrosius could go.

As much as Hoggle was now regretful for his involvement in Angaron's quest to rescue Vestrie, he refused to wallow in his past regrets any further. He resolved to share his knowledge of the Proba-Brand relic to his friends.

He also resolved to find it once more.

It was their _only hope _of defeating Angaron!


	24. Chapter 24: Hardships Unexpected

Hagatha was right in Zahra's face, her crooked, gnarled nose lightly pressing into the green goblin maiden's bulbous one. As Hagatha was never known to smile for any reason remotely correlating to satisfaction, her expression was a scowl of contempt.

"You're on your own from here on in, spoiled princess!" Hagatha firmly remarked, in her naturally scolding tone. "You WILL serve with distinction, snitling! And don't think that because you're restricted to serving the Goblin King alone that you'll be entitled to special treatment! No one goblin stands above the Goblin King no matter who or what you are! Is this understood? _Snitling?_"

Zahra came to understand the meaning of the term _snitling_. This was an unflattering term of derision among the goblins of Jareth's labyrinth. To be called a snitling meant that you were only fit to be dipped in the Bog of Eternal Stench, condemned to scavenge for scraps and bones outside of the castle grounds.

Hagatha almost always used this term when addressing Zahra during her training. Almost as often as she called her a 'spoiled princess'.

After two barely-tolerable days of difficult training, Zahra was hardly the defiant goblin charge she had hoped to become, perhaps because she was still flummoxed over what had happened to her. She was now what she had successfully kept Toby from becoming twenty years ago.

A goblin.

As per her training, Zahra made a curtsey-like gesture, with her head bowed, in her standard acknowledgement to not only Jareth, but to Hagatha as well. "Yes, Miss Hagatha."

"Now get out of my sight before I banish you from my kingdom, spoiled princess!" Hagatha squawked. "You know the way to the Goblin King's quarters! And mind the menagerie, _snitling!_"

And then, at long last, Hagatha stalked away from Zahra, who repeated her standard acknowledgement. "Yes, Miss Hagatha."

Her stroll to the Goblin King's private quarters was ponderous and quiet despite the wild revelries of the menagerie she had to walk through to get there. One of them dragged her into a wild dance before a nearby goblin guard broke up the moment and allowed Zahra to continue her progress towards the King's quarters.

And every time she passed a mirror, she'd stop and look at herself, the reality of her situation sinking in with every moment she stared upon herself.

She eventually reached the double doors and as she closed the distance to them, they opened wide. The Goblin King was obviously scrutinizing her arrival by some means, anticipating the very moment of her arrival.

Jareth held to both doors and crossed his legs flamboyantly, grinning upon his green-skinned prize. "Well, well, well. My little trophy-servant. Come for your diploma, have you? We'll have to see how well she's conditioned you, dear."

By now, the response was second nature given Hagatha's merciless grilling. She dropped herself down upon the floor in a full prostrate stance. "Greetings, my Lord Jareth. I am at your service." She calmly began once Jareth finished speaking.

Exactly as Jareth had wanted Hagatha to drill into the little goblin's mind. His malevolent grin was full and wide. "Rise." he then intoned.

Zahra rose to her goblin feet, which were bare.

Jareth then stepped forward and lowered himself to one knee, wagging a finger shamefully to Zahra. "That was a very naughty thing you did with me when I first met you, goblin." Jareth calmly scolded. "Had you not tried to play your own little game with me, your training would have been personal, and far less unpleasant. Still...I always expect thorough and well-laid results when I have Hagatha train the new blood. Two days, was it? Day in, day out? With hardly a wink of sleep? Always the best way to train one of our kind, Zahra. Now...what do we say next, servant?"

Zahra swallowed hard. "How may I serve you today, my Lord Jareth?"

Truly, Jareth enjoyed the sound of defeat in Zahra's voice. He knew she was struggling with this. "I think, goblin, that you shall be on...doll duty today."

Zahra tilted her head to the side in confusion. This wasn't a part of the training. "Doll duty, my Lord Jareth?"

Jareth's smile remained on his face as he reached out to grab the little goblin, with both hands on either side of her waist. "One thing I always find so endearing about dealing with goblins?" He then lifted Zahra up effortlessly. "They're so lightweight. Not much different than one of your own dolls. How does it feel to be _my_ doll, Zahra? My little plaything. To adore, to feed, to pet, to pat, to squeeze..."

Zahra didn't quite know how to respond to this. This was outside of Zahra's conditioning, and she surmised that perhaps Jareth was aware of this, perhaps deliberately trying to throw her off her training.

But in that moment, it occurred to her that what Jareth now proposed actually sounded endearing to her. Perhaps this was a means by which she could try a far more careful game, one which she needed to play in a more submissive manner rather than a defiant one. She now knew the spoiled brat routine she initially tried ultimately failed. It was time to try a new approach even as she found it necessary to stick to her conditioning for fear of being brought back under Hagatha's influence.

She decided to try a bold statement in emphasis of this approach. "How would you like to play with your dolly, my Lord Jareth?"

Jareth blinked. He didn't expect this.

But he had to admit to himself how unexpectedly gracious this voluntary gesture seemed. He warmed to it. Soooo many possibilities, he thought to himself.

"Would yoooooooou...let me dress you in sweet dolly clothes?" Jareth asked, his tone playfully coy.

"Yes, my Lord Jareth." was Zahra's response. She sounded a little eager, as well, particularly for the fact that she herself could not help but be intrigued over what was now developing.

"Would yoooooooou...wear girlish dolly makeup?" Jareth then asked, maintaining his coy tone. "Nice big red circles on your cheeks?"

"Yes, my Lord Jareth."

"Would yoooooooou...let me change your hair into red yarn?"

Zahra couldn't help but hesitate at this, but...

"Yes, my Lord Jareth."

Jareth then pulled Zahra into a tight squeeze, jumping around in circles joyfully as if he were a greatly-pleased child. "OH! That's _wonderful! _You've made me the happiest Goblin King _ever!_"

Zahra blinked at this bizarre performance she had no choice but to endure. Jareth then held her out, his arms outstretched. "Time to fly! A-_whoop_-sa daisy!" The Goblin King cast a surprised Zahra into the sky as he called this out, and she flew very close to the ceiling before dropping back down into his hands. "Aaaaaand _agaaaain!_" Up she went, nearly striking the high ceiling, before dropping back down into his gloved hands.

Jareth then ran over, in mock giddiness, to the double doors, before turning to face his double bed. He then held Zahra at her waist like a football, preparing to _throw _her. "High dive!" He called out excitedly.

And then, Zahra was airborne, flying in an arc towards the bed. She landed harmlessly upon it, of course, making light bounces upon the bed when she impacted it.

Jareth then raced over to the bed and began bouncing his butt upon it, leaping up and down giddily in his sitting posture. Consequentially, Zahra herself began bouncing upon the bed, making little squeals.

She began to wonder if Jareth was still of sound mind.

The Goblin King grabbed his "dolly" by the waist once again upon her fourth bounce. He then grinned childishly to Zahra, whose bewildered expression was plainly obvious.

"Let's watch a movie together, dolly!" Jareth exclaimed giddily, and the Goblin King rose, cradling Zahra in one arm as he approached the double doors.

Zahra had to blink in confusion. A _movie?_

* * *

**Two days before...**

Hoggle had set a campfire with the help of Ludo and Sir Didymus, settling within a forested section of the labyrinth terrain. Ambrosius had set down close enough to the warm fire to take a much-needed nap after carrying Sir Didymus in their fast getaway, and Aegeas the unicorn quietly stood guard as well, in close proximity to Hoggle.

As the glow of the camp flame illuminated the dwarf, and with his thoughts collected, he began to solemnly speak.

"I owe you both explanations about my involvement with Angaron, and the discovery of the Proba-Brand that was a part of his quest to rescue the Sidhe noblewoman called Vestrie..."

* * *

I never had any reason to suspect that Angaron was anything other than a typical Sidhe of the Seelie Court. He seemed very much to have noble intent. He was genuinely intent on rescuing Vestrie and earning her affections.

He had sympathy for me, as well.

As you all know, if something happens and you need to be banished from Seelie society, you're more often than not proclaimed an 'undesirable', and they send you here to the labyrinth, among other Unseelie dens. Vestrie had been kidnapped, and taken to the center of this labyrinth by a creature that no one among the Seelie had been able to defeat.

Back then, there were no agents of the Iron Shadow. No Iron Winter Blades. Sidhe magic was said to be useless against the monster. They didn't even know why the creature took Vestrie. All they knew was that he was big, he carried a large axe, and he was covered in a large drape of dark brown cloth that concealed his features completely.

I should also mention that Jareth had been serving as an underling to this monster as well. I imagine he did that to protect his goblin charges from whatever urges the creature had the potential to act upon.

I was the first of the three companions Angaron recruited for his quest to rescue Vestrie. I naturally thought that with a name like his, he'd be a headstrong lout with a short temper who just happened to have a princely face. Before we found the cave where the Proba-Brand was located, he proved me wrong. He was charming, suave, debonair, and very, very brave.

And then, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...and this more or less generalized our trek through that cave...we found the Proba-Brand. It was a relic of considerable power, but it required the presence of a mark for it to offer the benefit it promises, and only one person could enter the chamber at a time.

By the time we reached the Brand, Angaron and I were the only ones who were still alive. The terrors of the cave had claimed the lives of Angaron's other companions, all of them sacrificing themselves so Angaron and I could press on. They really believed in that Sidhe, too.

Something about Angaron didn't seem right to me, though. During our journey, he spoke often about social advancement and the importance of nobility even as he kept promising me he could try and re-incorporate myself in the social circles of Seelie dwarves, and he promised that his other companions would be rewarded handsomely in assisting Angaron.

But what bothered me was...why should we be concerned with rewards when this was about helping someone with a rescue mission? I had thought this was about earning true love, not increasing one's social standing. I figured the whole affair would change for the better, though. Back then, I was a bit more optimistic in nature.

I actually thought that damned Proba-Brand would make Angaron a better man, and not just give him the ability to defeat the monster that snatched Vestrie. He told me after he left the chamber that the Proba-Brand was just what its name implied. It was a white-hot brand, and one needed to make a request of it before letting the brand burn on a bare portion of your body.

Angaron let the brand burn into his back.

He was never really clear as to what his request was, but he certainly seemed confident that he could defeat this monster. As the cave's terrors had been vanquished by Angaron through a combination of might and magic, we were confident that the cave was safe enough to sleep in.

While Angaron rested, however, I snuck away and went to the Proba-Brand chamber. As it was me alone, I was able to enter and examine the Proba-Brand. As the scripts around the brand were in dwarven script, I was able to figure out what this relic was capable of.

Its full name was the Probability Brand. The writings also indicated what the last person to use it had requested.

'I shall be as him, and he shall be as me, and upon his demise, may I be as he, by mine own will.'

I was able to return to camp without him noticing I had left, but I couldn't sleep for the remainder of the evening.

When we finally made it to the center of the labyrinth, Angaron's battle against the creature...who turned out to be the very same minotaur who defeated Stave...turned out to be much less of a trial than Vestrie had feared.

But I knew why Angaron was able to vanquish the minotaur.

Once the Prince had Vestrie, he completely and totally forgot I even existed. He just abandoned me to make my own way within the labyrinth, and he went off and got his noble status alongside Vestrie, who I might add may have been corrupted as a consequence of her time spent as the minotaur's hostage.

Jareth actually helped Angaron reach the beast through his goblin charges, but I knew why. He wanted his labyrinth back. I actually hooked that arrogant traitor up with the Goblin King and his minions.

And how does he pay me back? He forgets that he was supposed to speak on my behalf and get me back among the Seelie dwarves.

I didn't really care that this never came to pass, since I never liked the society the Seelie dwarves made for themselves, but that wasn't the point.

_Angaron broke his promise._

There wasn't even a ceremony to honor the passing of his other companions, who were good people in their own right. Angaron should have done something in their memory. Mentioned something. Made a gesture or two to their next-of-kin.

They got _nothing_.

He made their deaths _meaningless_. It doesn't surprise me that the association between Vestrie and Angaron went bad, either, but if one minotaur could ruin the lives of two Sidhe of the Seelie Court who came into this ordeal as genuine, pure-hearted lovebirds, I hope we don't have to worry about any more minotaurs making a mess of things once we get rid of Angaron.

* * *

"Angawon _baaad._" Ludo growled once Hoggle went quiet.

"Verily." Sir Didymus agreed. "First, he finds and defeats the problem...and then, he becomes a far worse problem. But...how dost thou propose to proceed, Sir Hoggle?"

"We've got to find the cave." Hoggle solemnly remarked. "And hope the Proba-Brand is still there."

"But wab-winth _diff-went._" Ludo reminded.

"Yes, yes...but I'm willing to scour this entire labyrinth if it means finding the Proba-Brand." Hoggle replied.

"But...if thou didst suspect something amiss with Angaron, how come thou didst not apply a brand unto _thy _body?" Didymus asked.

"If I were a dwarf with a beard, drinking beer all day and being all rough-and-tumble, I probably would have." Hoggle explained. "But I'm not. I don't like beards, I refuse to drink beer, and...well...I was a coward."

Didymus arched a fluffy eyebrow. "Was? As in...past-tense?"

Hoggle nodded slowly. "And I'm going to prove it by marking myself with that brand once we find it. I assume you both want to tag along?"

"Where you go, Wudo goes." Ludo confirmed.

"As thou art embracing thy knightly calling, thou art more than just a friend to one such as I." Didymus remarked. "Thou art a brother. May I lay down mine own life so that thou mayest complete thy quest."

Hoggle then heard a whickering behind him. The little dwarf jumped, startled, and glanced behind him.

The unicorn, Aegeas, stared back at him.

"I do believe thy unicorn is just as eager to carry thee wherever thou wishest, Sir Hoggle." Didymus explained.

"Great." Hoggle wryly observed. "I'll be spending the entire trip falling off his back."


	25. Chap 25: The Quest for the Proba-Brand

Contrary to Hoggle's noted concern, the little dwarf found himself perfectly stable upon the unicorn's back as he led Sir Didymus, who was mounted on Ambrosius, and Ludo on what turned out to be a nearly two-day search for anything remotely resembling the cave where the Proba-Brand was supposed to be. Hoggle began to fear that the relic might have been ruined in the shifting of the labyrinth, and the cave mouth within which the remnants were located were now closed off forever.

About 14 hours into their second day of searching, however, Ludo managed to find the mouth of the cave, feeling that something unusually strong was within the mouth.

The problem, however, was that the cave mouth was now surrounded by a section of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Hoggle sighed upon seeing this damnable situation firsthand.

Sir Didymus looked to Ludo. "Art thou _certain _this is our cave?"

Ludo shrugged. "Wudo Wock Twoll. Caves wocks."

"If Ludo says the cave has the Proba-Brand, that's all the convincing we need." Hoggle remarked.

"Why did it have to be in the _midst _of this vile muck?" Didymus lamented. "How cruel the hand of fate!"

Aegeas, however, was now looking along the ground, bringing his nose to the soil. Before anyone could protest, the unicorn suddenly galloped away quickly.

"Wha...where is thy unicorn going?" Didymus exclaimed. "COME BACK! Thy master needs a leap across the Bog!"

Aegeas, however, was long gone.

It was Ludo, however, who figured out why. He pointed to the ground as the Rock Troll looked to Didymus. "Twacks."

The fox-man looked to the ground, and confirmed that a horse other than Aegeas had indeed been here. "Ahhh...indeed. Tracks look erratic, too. Whatever equine presence was once here must have been quite distraught."

And then, another unexpected occurrence played before the eyes of Sir Didymus and Ludo.

Hoggle had rushed past them and made a leap over the Bog's gurgling, belching muck.

While he did make it, he had expected to impact the hard rock surrounding the hole.

He instead went _into _the hole.

Ludo and Didymus stared at this for a long moment in shocked silence before Ludo turned to the furry chevalier. "Wow...Hoggle _bwave!_"

"Verily, Squire!" Didymus then dismounted his loyal sheepdog. "Wouldst thou be capable of casting thy master knight upon the cave mouth?"

Ludo nodded. "Vewiwy."

"Ambrosius, I bid thee to remain here and stand watch." He instructed his mount, who already dropped to the ground for yet another nap. "Thou shalt have my Squire for added protection, seeing as how he is...a little big for such a jump."

Ludo lowered his head at this, looking a bit sad. He nevertheless seemed to concede to the wisdom, and applied more of a toss than a full throw, allowing Sir Didymus to similarly fall into the cave mouth.

Ludo then dropped down onto his furry behind, resolving to remain until the return of the knight he so dutifully served.

He hoped his other friends would be alongside him, as well.

* * *

The impact of Sir Didymus upon his body was able to snap Hoggle out of his brief bout of unconsciousness. He had landed upon a mossy surface, making the impact a touch less damaging.

"Oooh...huh? Sir Didymus?" Hoggle frowned in confusion. "How did you..."

"Ludo."

"Oh." Hoggle rose to his feet after Didymus moved off of the dwarf. "Gave you a good toss, eh? Dwarves _hate_ being tossed, ya know."

"I suspect we are not going to find progress in this cave very agreeable, either." Didymus observed as he scanned the area. "It would seem we will need to slide, if not fall outright, along tunnels to progress _down_ thy cave. I hope thou hast a plan for coming back up?"

Hoggle sighed. "I figured we'd cross that bridge when we come to it."

It was then that both occupants caught the same sound. The sound of a little girl weeping.

"Alas..." Didymus observed. "...someone is in distress!"

"Someone young from the sound of it." Hoggle noted.

The sound of the girl's weeping became their sole curiosity as they slipped and fell along the curves of upended corridors of the cave to reach the source of the sound. As they got closer, however, they could not help but pick up on another means by which they were able to locate her.

An overpoweringly awful smell.

"Dear me..." Didymus quietly observed. "...thou dost not think that she...?"

"One touch of the Bog is enough." Hoggle gravely replied. "She'll bear that stink for the rest of her life. She shouldn't use that as an excuse to be stuck here, though."

Carefully, they moved along the cave passages, the stench and the noise getting stronger.

And then, they finally found her.

It was the Sidhe servant girl from the Lady Vestrie's mansion. She looked covered in a sheen of brownish sweat, however. Her hair looked moist, and her clothes were soaked in the terrible-smelling perspiration she was generating.

Didymus had to pinch his fox nose. There was only so much of the terrible stench he could take.

The girl looked very, very distraught, however. When she saw the dwarf and the fox-man, however, she gasped in surprise. "Oh, please don't come near me!" She wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Hoggle didn't even bother covering his nose. He'd been threatened with being dumped in the Bog so many times, he was beginning to get used to the strong stench. "What's a sweet Sidhe girl like you doing in Unseelie territory? Are you an undesirable?"

"I...I might as well be..." The girl lamented, wiping her stench-generating tears. "...I wanted to see the beautiful human again, s...so I rode out on Jezebel..."

Didymus confided quietly to Hoggle as he listened to the girl. "The second horse, no doubt."

"...but...when we went through the portal...she started going wild!" The girl cried. "I couldn't control her...she ran me around for a long way and...and then she threw me off! My foot landed in the muck and...and then...there was this terrible smell..." She then lapsed into a regretful sob, burying her face into her arms.

"What is thy name, sweet girl?" Sir Didymus asked, making an effort to bear the horrible stench.

"C...Cerenede..." She replied through her sniffles.

"We should get you out of this cave, Cerenede." Hoggle observed. "You can't hide away from the world just because of a silly little smell."

"But...but...we're not supposed to smell so bad." Cerenede lamented as fresh tears cascaded from her eyes. "Everyone will _hate _me!"

"Young lady, we are removing thee from this cave!" Didymus firmly remarked. "Once we get what we came for, of course...and once we are out, thou shalt see that a stench is no excuse to keep from living thy life!"

Cerenede wiped the brownish tears from her face. "Wh...what did you...come for? The scary moaning?"

Hoggle blinked, as did Didymus. "Moaning?" They spoke in unison.

"Er...what _kind_ of moaning?" Didymus asked.

"I...I'll wait here..." Cerenede then remarked. "...I don't want you to have to keep...smelling me..." She then went into the pockets of her dress and produced a glass item of some sort, shaking it until a bright wisp of light emanated from it. She then reached it out so one of them could take it. "...here...take this...it's dark down there..."

Hoggle moved in to take the item, which Cerenede dropped into the dwarf's outstretched palm. "Art thou sure thou dost not wish to join us?" Didymus again asked.

"I...I'll go with you when you leave." Cerenede weakly replied. "Just...leave me alone for now..."

As Cerenede once again curled up in the dead end area, Hoggle and Didymus could not help but feel for the Sidhe girl who had been dealt her unfortunate hand.

"Jezebel must have been another unicorn." Didymus surmised as they negotiated the passages carefully. "They react badly when they are within a strongly negative territory, such as the labyrinth. The other unicorn must have been bred to be able to exist within the labyrinth grounds without going wild."

"That unicorn might have been Epona's steed." Hoggle guessed. "I remember that cave mouth from Stave's vision. This is the very same cave."

"Hmmm. Compelling." Didymus noted. "I wonder what would interest agents of the Iron Shadow enough to plunder this cavern's depths?"

"Probably Angaron." Hoggle surmised. "Or one of his own agents."

"Angaron took on hirelings, eh?" Didymus mused. "That won't improve his social standing much."

"Oh yeah. Something like that can really scar someone's reputation in Seelie society. I'm not surprised he doesn't have any real friends. I hear he's a real snake among the Sidhe these days." Hoggle then noted. Didymus nodded in agreement.

It was then that they finally heard the moaning. And with the moaning, came a clearly evident gust of wind.

And the moaning was close.

Very close.

Didymus and Hoggle proceeded carefully now, Celenea's wisp glass illuminating their progress as they descended carefully along slopes and corners and down small drops. Hoggle was at least confident that there were no long passages in this winding cavern, for a long passage meant a steep drop that would have killed them both.

But he did remember the presence of a large cavern near where the relic was located, and he surmised that whatever was moaning had made its home in there.

Hoggle finally spotted something along the wall that used to be the cavern floor that filled him with relief.

"We're close!" The dwarf suddenly exclaimed. "I remember this area. I began dropping grapes down and ground them into the surface with my foot. See the grape stain there?"

Didymus did indeed see evidence of a grape stain, and nodded. "Lead thy way, brother knight."

They were fortunate. There were two-way passages, the correct path indicated by yet another grape stain. When next they heard the moaning, it was now dangerously close.

And considerably stinky. They both surmised that whatever this creature they were approaching was, it must have somehow come into contact with the Bog.

When Didymus and Hoggle finally came upon the large cavern they sought out, they stared at the magnificently large, serpentine beast that inhabited it. A beast that, for all its awe-provoking magnificence, was marred by the very same stench that Cerenede had been afflicted with.

Its scales were a somewhat transparent-looking shade of pale silver, and a pair of wings that had the very same color of a cloudless sky adorned its back.

"I don't believe it!" Hoggle hissed in amazement. "An _air dragon!_"

"Truly?" Didymus asked in amazement. "What is an elemental wyrm doing so deep within this cavern?"

Stepping up a little closer to where the beast was sleeping, he finally learned why.

"This dragon was injured." Hoggle pointed to the slumbering creature's right hind leg, where a deep gash could be seen. Hoggle noticed another wound at the wyrm's left wing. "It might have been struck by debris during the shifting of the labyrinth, or it had a little row with Angaron."

"Or both..but where was its point of entry?" Didymus inquired. "This cave's entry hole is a bit too small for a beast so magnificently large."

"Magic would be my first guess." Hoggle figured. "Unless one of the walls of this cavern is an illusion. Air dragons aren't meat-eaters, though. They have more of an appetite for plants. They can get _very _ornery, though, if their space isn't respected."

"Territorial, eh?" Didymus mused. "Well, I suppose we could just walk around the beast, yes? Is there more than one entrance to this cavern?"

Hoggle sighed, having been in the cavern before, and remembering the location of the cavern's second exit. "I think he's sleeping in front of it."

"Hmmm." Didymus scratched beneath his muzzle in his effort to figure out a solution. He then looked to the dwarf. "How sociable is this particular species of wyrm?"

"Don't know." Hoggle replied. "I've never spoken to one before."

"Splendid!" Didymus noted. "Now is thy chance."

Hoggle blinked. "Me? You want _me _to negotiate with an air dragon? This one doesn't look old enough to speak languages other than its own!"

"Challenge thyself." Didymus answered. "Thy knightly courage demands it."

"Why can't _you _do it?" Hoggle protested. "Step up and challenge your _own_ courage!"

"I asked thou first!" Didymus countered.

"Hey! I showed off my bravery by risking a Bog-bath just to get _into_ this place!" Hoggle reasoned. "It's _your _turn to...to..."

The beast's head, now wide awake, was now staring at them both curiously, having craned its head forward.. Hoggle was the first to notice, and he could not help but quiver nervously.

Didymus, on the other hand, now looked petrified, his eyes boggling.

The dragon's huge head seemed to give each new occupant a curious whiff, its nostrils flaring once with each inward breath.

Its head then moved to gaze upon the gash at its wounded leg, and then glanced back to the cavern's visitors.

The creature then tilted its head curiously.

Didymus then gave Hoggle a nudge. The dwarf sighed, and took another step towards the dragon.

"Um...hi there..." Hoggle spoke as slowly and as respectfully as he could, still inescapably nervous. "...s...sorry to disturb you, but...we're just, uh, passing through..."

Upon hearing this, the dragon uttered what sounded like a disappointed moan. It then curled its serpentine head back up against its slumbering body and resumed its nap, the serpentine eyes closing once more.

Hoggle let out another distressed sigh, lowering his head. He then glanced at Didymus, who remained frozen where he stood.

He was about to say something to Sir Didymus when he heard a little voice groan with the sound of a nearby impact. As if someone had fallen down nearby. Moving around the corner and back into the passage they used to enter the cavern, he saw...and smelled...little Cerenede rise to her feet, looking a little dazed. When she saw Hoggle holding the light source she had given him, she gestured for the dwarf to approach her.

Moving up to her, Cerenede placed her hands to her bruised forehead and began to whisper words in an arcane language. Cerenede's body then began to glow with a soft light.

When the glow abated, the bruises on Cerenede's head were completely gone.

Hoggle's eyes widened. He had seen healing magic before, but never from one so young. "How did you...?"

Cerenede smiled. "Mending Light. It's how I fix Jezebel whenever she's hurt. As long as I have light and enough air, I can cast the spell."

"I didn't know you were a healer!" Hoggle exclaimed.

Cerenede giggled. "You didn't ask me if I was."

The little Sidhe girl then gasped upon spotting the sleeping dragon.

"Shhh...don't worry. It's an air dragon. It doesn't eat people." Hoggle quickly, quietly assured.

The dragon's head then rose back up, a sniffing sound emerging from the nostrils of its head.

Once again, it moved its head to look upon where Hoggle, Didymus, and Cerenede were standing...but its eyes were now on Cerenede. Another whiff of the Sidhe, and its head tilted in curiosity, no doubt reacting to the fact that the girl had the very same Bog stench the dragon was forced to bear.

And then, once again, the dragon moved its head back to the leg injury, glancing to Cerenede, and then tilting its head curiously, no doubt in another appeal for help.

Hoggle angled his head to the little Sidhe healer. "Do you think you can mend that gash, Cerenede?"

Cerenede turned her head to the dwarf with a pleading expression. "Can you help me find the beautiful human, master dwarf? I really want to find her."

Hoggle frowned in confusion. "Beautiful human?" He could put a face on who the little Sidhe must have been referring to, but for whatever reason, he could not remember the woman's name, which struck him as odd. "Hmmm...if that's who I think it is..."

"They punished her at the trial, master dwarf. Jezebel misses her terribly." Cerenede lamented.

Hoggle now knew _exactly_ who she was referring to, and the dwarf had to admit that the circumstances were quite advantageous. The group could benefit significantly from having a healer among them. "We're trying to find the beautiful human as well, Cerenede. If we can get out of here, we'll let you tag along."

Cerenede nodded. "Follow me, then. I need the light if I'm going to make the dragon better."

The Sidhe girl instructed Hoggle to hold the light close to the wound area. The girl had to climb a bit, but she was able to get into a position where she could pass her hands over the gash area. She whispered her magic words and passed her little hands along the quivering gash, which began to glow with a bright white light as she lapsed into a state of intense concentration.

After a moment, the glow began to subside.

The gash then began to seal itself.

The dragon then carefully shifted its position, bringing its damaged wing in close proximity to the girl, hoping she could fix that wound as well. Hoggle noticed that once the dragon shifted around, the passage he had been blocking was now accessible. The dwarf knew that the room beyond that passage contained the very prize the group was seeking.

But he wanted to help Cerenede...who now looked a bit weary...heal the dragon's other wound first.

As she moved as close as possible to the wing wound, the tired Sidhe girl looked to Didymus, who remained rooted to his spot. "What's wrong with your friend?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, you mean nerves-of-steel there." Hoggle wryly noted. "You'd think ol' Sir Didymus there never saw an adolescent dragon before."

The Sidhe girl, however, tilted her head. "Don't be too hard on your friend, master dwarf. Dragons sometimes have that kind of an effect on people like him. It's not your friend's fault."

Hoggle nodded, bringing the needed light as close to the wing as possible. Cerenede once again applied her healing spell, and the wound began to mend. This injury wasn't as severe as the leg gash, yet Cerenede now looked entirely exhausted after finishing her second mending effect. Hoggle figured her effort to heal the first gash must have been very taxing on her.

She then fainted back.

The dragon, however, maneuvered its mended wing quickly to break the girl's fall. Settling the young Sidhe healer harmlessly to the ground, the dragon then positioned its wing in the manner of a bedsheet, covering the unconscious girl as she napped.

The dragon then looked to Hoggle, and then glanced to the now-accessible passage. Returning its gaze to the dwarf, it then nodded once.

Hoggle now had a pretty good idea what message the mighty, mended wyrm was attempting. It would keep the girl safe and sound while Hoggle went into the Proba-Brand chamber.

Hoggle nodded back to the wyrm, and advanced towards the open passage.

As the dwarf expected, the Proba-Brand...which was ordinarily on the ground...was now against a wall that used to be the ground before the labyrinth's shifting. Fortunately, there were four brands in a plus-sign arrangement, all of them capable of imprinting the same brand.

As Angaron had done, Hoggle chose to burn the imprint on his own bare back, removing the clothes covering his torso to expose the needed skin. He knew the brand would hurt terribly, but Hoggle knew this was the only way Angaron could be defeated. For as long as the dwarf had the brand on his body, he could name the probability factor Hoggle wanted changed, and for as long as the dwarf was alive, the requested effect could linger.

Angaron used the brand to effectively defeat the Iron Winter Blade, which would have instantaneously killed him without the grace of his mark. That advantage was about to change. He couldn't undo what the traitorous Sidhe nobleman had done to himself, but he could at least give Stave another shot at un-making the bull-headed beast.

"May the minotaur race...be as fae!"

Hoggle hoped, as he applied his back to the white-hot brand, and he hollered loudly with the searing pain of the brand, that Angaron was the _only _minotaur in the entire underground.

Hoggle needed a moment to recover from the horrible burning agony torturing his back. He was at least relieved that he did not pass out from the pain.

Still...he had to crawl back out of the chamber, wincing with the mark that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Once he was back in the cavern, he found himself staring at a familiar pair of boots.

"Art thou finished?" Sir Didymus asked, his arms crossed in front of him, staring down upon the dwarf.

Hoggle nodded. "Hurts like you wouldn't believe, but...we've got a major advantage now."

"Well done, brother." Didymus remarked. "'Tis _my _turn now!"

Without another word, the fox-like knight stepped into the Proba-Brand chamber. Hoggle shook his head as he wondered just what his 'brother' would ask for. More than likely, he would ask for some kind of great battle. Ask for something glorious. Ask for something silly that a knight would nevertheless greatly desire.

He heard the knight's voice, but could not make out the request as he had opted to rest himself in close vicnity to the Sidhe girl.

Hoggle then heard a faint sizzle as he settled to the ground in relaxation, going into his belongings and procuring a long stretch of rope.

A bloodcurdling scream from Sir Didymus then followed.

Again, Hoggle shook his head...but then, the foul air around them, the stench that he could barely tolerate which he knew was a consequence of coming into contact with the Bog, suddenly began to clear from the air. Even the dragon noticed this, bringing his head up and sampling the air with a couple of curious whiffs while keeping the napping Sidhe girl covered.

The stench was _gone!_

In the next moment, a highly-pleasing scent replaced it. A scent which, Hoggle discovered, clearly emanated not only from the girl, but from the dragon as well.

Hoggle quirked an eyebrow, but then winced at the burning pain at his back.

A couple of quiet minutes passed. Didymus did not re-emerge from the chamber. Despite the pain, Hoggle rose back up to his feet and hurried back over to the Proba-Brand chamber.

He had feared the intense pain from the brand might have unexpectedly killed Didymus, but the dwarf instead found his knightly comrade unconscious. He had no doubt fainted from the pain, as Hoggle himself nearly did. Ignoring his own agony...at his back...as best he could, the dwarf hefted Didymus up and carried him back over to where the now fragrant-smelling Cerenede was napping.

He then looked up, beginning to wonder how they were going to get back out of the cavern. He had rope on him, but he figured the attempt to climb back up to the cave mouth entrance would take a considerably long time. He just hoped the small grappling hook-like piece would capably bite into the rock.

The dwarf's peripheral vision caught sight of the dragon's own head angling up. Perhaps he, too, was figuring out a way to abandon the cavern.

With his friends napping, Hoggle decided to get a little rest as well, settling down near where he laid Didymus.

They both found themselves covered by a leathery dragon wing as well, making their nap all the more comfortable as the dragon ponderously angled his head back up to the ceiling.

The dragon then covered the sleeping bodies completely with its wings. All of them were unconscious, although the noise that was about to follow would likely cause them to stir out of their rest.

The wyrm's torso then bulged out, its head still poised to the ceiling.

A cataclysmic blast of devastating wind then issued forth from the dragon's open mouth. It figured the walls of the repositioned cavern would not be thick enough to hold against the dragon's powerful breath, which was above and beyond gale-force. Anything caught in this burst of air would be instantaneously ripped apart. Practically vaporized, as well.

And when the blast of cataclysmic air died out, no debris fell back down to pelt the dragon.

The passages of the cavern, however, were gone. It was now more like a large pit, out of which the dragon could fly.

It noticed, however, that at the edges of this newly-formed pit, the Bog's horrible-smelling muck was beginning to spill down towards them.

Its wings uncovered the others, who were logically awake and alert. They were naturally shocked to see the cavern's dramatic transformation, but it was Hoggle who noticed two things.

One, that the muck of the Bog was about to hit the ground, having crawled down the edges of the pit.

Two, that the dragon's head had dropped down right in front of the group. The dwarf figured he was offering them a ride on his ridged head.

"ONTO THE DRAGON'S HEAD!" Hoggle hollered. "HURRY!"

* * *

Ludo peeked over the side of the large pit that had once been a small cave mouth in the middle of the stinking, gurgling, belching Bog. The sudden blast of air had stirred him from his own nap.

He saw that the molasses-like muck began to crawl down the edges of the pit, no doubt towards where the Rock Troll's friends were. He began to fear for Hoggle. He figured the dwarf was paralyzed with fear.

In the next moment, however, a large, winged creature suddenly shot out of the pit and ascended to the sky. Ambrosius let out a stream of loud barks upon seeing the winged beast, which went straight up and then gently leveled out in the skies, coasting in a gentle curve with its wings outstretched. The dragon then descended down in a gently-sloping angle until it landed right in front of Ludo and Ambrosius.

Ludo then tilted his head. "Geyser?" He growled curiously as he finally saw the ridged face of the wyrm, which lowered down to the ground.

It angled its head in a manner that made it easy for Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Cerenede to dismount from the dragon's head. The wyrm's face then moved to Ludo, staring upon the Rock Troll.

"_Geyser!_" Ludo repeated, confirming that this was indeed an acquaintance of his. "Wong time!" the Troll observed, to which the dragon nodded in agreement.

Hoggle stepped over to Ludo while Sir Didymus reunited with his wildly-barking mount, whose tail wagged happily.

"You _know_ this dragon, Ludo?" Hoggle asked.

"Sure!" Ludo replied. "Geyser fwiend!"

"I don't smell bad anymore!" Cerenede then observed, noticing her brownish perspiration had completely evaporated from her now clear and unblemished skin. "But...but I..."

"Fret not, fair Sidhe...thy curse hath been lifted!" Sir Didymus announced. "By mine _own _mark upon mine own back, thou hast been rendered immune to the lingering odor of the Bog! Thy benefit is shared with our scaly friend as well."

Cerenede gasped in shock, and then raced forward to wrap her little arms around the furry chevalier, who howled in agony as the little Sidhe's relieved arms pressed right upon the brand at his back. "Oh, _thank you, _master Didymus! Thank you _so much!_" The little girl then stepped away from the suffering knight in concern. "Oh! Did I hurt you?"

Didymus forced a smile, his eyes boggling. "Nay! Not I! Perish thy thought!" His pained voice assured. "Knights...f..feel no such thinnnnng...!"

Ludo tromped over to the furry chevalier. "Nope! Knight _stwong!_" The Troll then slapped a large hand right on Didymus's back in emphasis, widening his eyes and forcing another agonized sound from the knight's moaning, grinning muzzle.

"I think we could all use a dip in a nice, cool lake." Hoggle reasoned. "Should be one near this area."

"And then, we find the beautiful human?" Cerenede asked.

Hoggle placed a hand on the Sidhe girl's shoulder. "Not without a plan."


	26. Chapter 26: The Horned One

"Ooooh, this is my favorite part..." Jareth giddily chimed, squeezing Zahra as she gazed with great embarrassment at the 'movie' she was being shown.

Jareth had taken Zahra to the chamber that contained the Tapestry of Mortal Souls, and they were watching the early life of Sarah Williams. They were now at the point where she was learning how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, trying to keep her balance.

Zahra didn't have to try and remember. It was a humiliating time in her early life which she wished she could somehow forget. Even if it was only a single weekend.

And then, little Sarah spilled down to the pavement. Sarah's nearby father gasped in genuine concern.

"Oopsy!" Jareth exclaimed. "Oh, dear, that must have hurt...ah!" The image closed in on the scrape on her knee. "There's the little red boo-boo...awww, look at that cute little pout. I thought to myself, 'won't that silly little girl _ever _learn quickly?' Why does she always pout and complain so miserably...there, see? You're arguing with dear old Dad about getting your training wheels put back on..."

Jareth glanced upon his prize at this point. Zahra's eyes were watering up now, and she clearly looked like she was about to cry. The Goblin King could now tell that this was no act. He was cutting a little too deep now. With a casual flick of his hand towards the image, the images zipped forward at fast speed, as if they were video images zipping past on a modern touchscreen display, slowing until it got to her first exposure to the little book entitled "The Labyrinth". The image then froze.

The Goblin King then turned to Zahra, his expression once again sober. "Grapes and Wine in the Kitchen two levels below, servant. I wish to be fed."

Zahra swallowed hard, looking up to the Goblin King as she wiped her tears from her green-skinned face. "Y...yes, my Lord Jareth..."

Zahra made her way out of the double doors and began her descent to the Kitchen area. She had to go through one of the more rowdy areas to get there, but Hagatha had squawked that if she didn't look any of the goblins in the eye, they'd leave her alone.

She was, however, grabbed by one of the tougher-looking goblins and pressed against a stone wall which was out of open sight. Zahra's eyes flared with anger. "Let me go! You DARE touch the personal servant of th..."

The goblin now had a nasty-looking goblin blade pressed against her throat. He then spoke in a hoarse and guttural voice. "You'd better re-think your loyalties, snitling. You wouldn't wanna get caught up in the shakeout!"

"Sh...shakeout?" Zahra fearfully asked.

"Our King...your master...is a _liar_." The nasty-looking goblin explained. "A two-faced pawn of the Seelie Court! He beds one of their wenches and conspires to make us all their _slaves! _He has no pride in being what he _should_ be!"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." Zahra noted. "...I've only been here two days..."

"We've seen you suffer in your training, _girl_." the goblin growled. "Don't you think new leadership is necessary? Our benefactor can give us that, and we'd no longer have to hide behind one who _deceives!_"

"Benefactor? But...but who?" She began to consider putting on another act, seeing as how these were rank-and-file goblins, and not Jareth, she'd be toying with. "What could this...benefactor...offer me?" She then added, beginning to play out her ruse.

"For now, you will call him the Horned One." The goblin explained. "You'll have to prove your loyalty to us if you want to know more."

"Well, you'll have to wait until I'm dismissed." Zahra explained. "My Lord Jareth sent me out to get him..."

"Grapes and Wine." The goblin cut in. "We know."

The goblin then clicked his fingers once. A platter of fresh grapes and a full jug of wine was then presented to Zahra, who hesitantly took them.

"Play to our advantage, _girl_." The goblin malevolently intoned. "Maybe the Horned One will make you our _Queen _once the smoke clears." He then lowered the dagger. "Off with you, now...and say _nothing _to that treacherous wretch!"

She didn't get them right from the Kitchen, so she had to suspect that either the wine or the grapes had been tainted. That these potential traitors knew what she was being sent out to get also implied that they had ears within Jareth's private quarters.

It was a bad spot she had suddenly found herself in, assuming the wine and/or the grapes were poisoned.

But she had to somehow play along.

She even, truly, found herself conflicted as to her loyalties. This torturous Goblin King who had just tormented her with long-repressed past memories that Jareth apparently found entertainment in watching was now, apparently, in danger of losing his throne to malcontents, of which there must be many since the goblin who had the blade to her throat was accompanied by about seven others that looked just as nasty.

She then wondered if the "wench" they noted was the Lady Vestrie.

Was this truly a play on the part of the Seelie Noblewoman to take control of the labyrinth? She had never mentioned of any interest in the realm. Zahra of course knew Vestrie had an eye on the mortal woman she used to be, but with the Noblewoman's mark thankfully gone, she figured Vestrie had lost interest in her completely.

But what was her interest in Jareth all about? How long did they truly know each other? How deep was their connection?

She pondered these things as she approached the double doors to Jareth's quarters. When she opened them, Jareth was seen standing at the end of the double-bed, facing the doors, his hands clasped in front of him.

His gloved right hand then gestured for her to approach him. She tried not to look too nervous as she did so, and Jareth reached down to take the plate of grapes in one hand and the wine jug in the other.

"I don't want to watch movies anymore." Jareth then calmly remarked. "Too depressing."

"What does my Lord Jareth wish to do with his dolly then, my Lord Jareth?" Zahra timidly asked.

Jareth stared down at Zahra for a long and quiet moment. He then asked a question she did not expect to hear. A question that greatly confused her.

"Do you like what you see, Zahra?" He began, gesturing to his face. "Is...this...what you fell in love with?"

Zahra couldn't help but frown in confusion.

After a moment, Jareth continued, his tone one of lament. "Those damned Seelie. They turned your humanity upside down...and it's all my fault." He then turned to gaze upon the large painting of the goblin with the crown on his head that hovered over his double-bed. "I'm _exhausted_, Zahra. I'm exhausted from...trying to live up to their expectations of me." He now walked closer to the painting, gazing upon it. "Maybe they'll give you my kingdom...my crown..." His fingers now stroked at strands of the hair on his head. "...maybe even Vanity..."

Another long and confusing moment of silence followed. Zahra was speechless. Not a word emerged from her mouth. She just waited, quietly, for the Goblin King to speak again.

"Step outside the doors of my chamber, servant." He then ordered, in a firm tone.

Zahra complied, stepping backwards until she faced the open double doors, which always swung inward.

Jareth then turned to face his personal servant, fixing a stern gaze upon her as he walked back to the front of his bed with hurried steps. "So! My labyrinth was a piece of cake to you, was it?"

Zahra blinked, wondering if the Goblin King had suddenly gone insane.

Jareth's tone was then, once again, malevolent. "Well...let's see how you deal with _this _little slice, _goblin!_"

With a gesture of his gloved right hand, the doors suddenly slammed shut in front of her. From behind the doors, Jareth called out three more words. "You are dismissed!"

She had an urge, at that moment, to call out that the drink and the grapes were poisoned...but she knew how terribly risky that was seeing as how she now feared the walls had ears. All she could do was hope that Jareth himself would suspect the possible taint in the food and drink.

Zahra instead wandered down to the main level quietly. Once again, she had to go through the rowdiness of the menagerie, and risk the possibility of being shoved against a wall with a blade pressed to her throat once again.

She was instead simply approached by the very same tough-looking, scar-decorated goblin who had the blade at her throat moments before. Behind him was a small group of tough-looking goblin rogues. Apparently, this second meeting was to be a little more civil.

"Package delivered, _girl?_" The ugly goblin asked.

"Yes." She tried as icy a look as she could. "How soon before the poison takes effect?"

A moment of silence followed, and then the tough goblin and his small group began laughing uproariously. Zahra frowned in confusion.

"Silly girl! We didn't do _anything _to the wine and the grapes!" the lead goblin laughed a bit more before composing himself. "You have an appointment with the Horned One. He will see you _now_. We're to escort you."

Zahra affected a treacherous smile. "Good." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm already hating being treated like a do..."

A wrap of cloth had been placed over her eyes and tied at the back of her head. A blindfold, no doubt, to keep Zahra from learning where the Horned One was located. She sighed as she was led through the menagerie, and then through narrow passageways and down several flights of stone stairs. She soon found herself inhaling the unpleasant scent of raw sewage as she progressed.

She was then halted as two voices spoke. The first, she didn't recognize, but it sounded like some kind of misshapen brute. "The goblins serve the Goblin King."

The second was the ugly goblin leader. "Unless they have an axe to grind."

Zahra was then tugged forward. No doubt these were password phrases. She made a mental note of it.

It wasn't until she was brought into a quiet room and lowered into a seat that felt like an easy chair that the blindfold finally came off. Zahra rubbed her goblin eyes and began to focus on her surroundings. The green goblin girl heard the doorway behind her shut tight, and a lock mechanism latch into place.

She was indeed placed in a soft, purple easy chair, perhaps stolen from the world above. The room she had been placed in looked haphazardly put together to form what seemed to be the office of an important figurehead. Her easy chair faced a desk, behind which was a large, throne-like seat. There were no papers or pencils of any kind on the bare desk, but there were a pair of black steel manacles attached to it. Upon the right wall was what looked to be a really old painting of a man and a woman, both of whom looked to be of some royal bearing. She guessed, by their manner of dress, that this was a rendering of a couple in ancient Greece.

On the other wall, however, was a large map. Zahra found herself staring at this map, as it seemed to be a representation of a large maze. She wondered if this was the track of Jareth's first labyrinth, as there were notations made regarding sections she recognized in her first foray through the labyrinth, such as the "Fire Gang Zone", and "The Oubliette".

Zahra then heard the sounds of heavy hooves impacting the ground. At first, the sound was distant, but the sound got louder with every impact. Apparently, the Horned One was approaching.

When the Horned One finally came into view, swiveling the black brick wall behind the throne seat, it turned out to be the very same broad-bodied, brown-furred minotaur that had knocked her out at the center of the labyrinth. In his right hand was a large and nasty-looking axe.

Zahra couldn't help but gasp at the sight of this intimidating beast, quietly surmising that this was a minion of the Sidhe man who had condemned her to become a goblin. The one called Angaron.

The beast then spoke in his menacing, horrible-sounding voice. It was as if a raging inferno was literally speaking to her. "How is your head, champion? I hope I didn't jar it too severely when last we saw each other."

"My head's fine." Zahra responded, quickly lapsing into her conspiratorial pose. "Pretty clever how the goblins under you give me the food and drink I was asked to deliver to Jareth, making me think they had poisoned them."

"I am not an amateur, servant." The Horned One firmly noted. "Although the time of their rebellion draws near, we do not wish Jareth to be un-made." He then clopped up close to Zahra. "We have a far more fitting fate for the Has-Been and soon Never-Will-Be Goblin King. A fate you, in particular, should find most interesting."

Zahra arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

The minotaur tilted his head in curiosity. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Zahra now frowned warily. "Poisoning me so soon? You have no idea how much I can help you."

"Indeed. You were once the champion of this very labyrinth. Jareth's interest in you is...considerable." The minotaur observed. "To note your potential as an asset to our cause would be very much the understatement."

"Do you serve Angaron at all?" Zahra then asked. She couldn't wait. She had to have that curiosity addressed.

The Horned One snorted in derision. "That traitor isn't even an Unseelie. He wants the labyrinth. I have no intention of giving it to him. He is a means to an end."

"Just like me." Zahra mused.

"Quite." The bull-man confirmed. "But if you were Angaron's toy, he would have you disposed of once he got what he wanted. I would not be so wicked."

The wall behind the Horned One swiveled once again, and an ugly-looking goblin woman stepped through and moved towards Zahra, taking a knee and presenting a platter of food and drink. What shocked the once-human goblin girl was that she immediately recognized this goblin crone.

It was _Hagatha!_

Zahra's eyes widened upon sighting her. The Horned One chuckled upon seeing Zahra's reaction.

"One of my more reliable spies, yes. Quite convincing in her supposed loyalty, wouldn't you say?" The Horned One mused. He then glowered down to Hagatha. "You expect Zahra to reach down for her food and drink? GET ON YOUR TOES, SNITLING!"

"Y...yes, Horned One..." Her voice quivered as she replied, raising up high enough for the food and drink she offered to a point where Zahra could reach them. Hagatha smiled submissively up to her as the green-skinned goblin reached for one of the meat slabs she was being offered, picking it up with a clawed hand. The meat smelled quite delicious, and tasted even better when she brought it into her mouth and began chewing upon it with her ridged goblin teeth.

"Does the good Lady goblin approve of this one's food?" Hagatha sweetly asked, the sweetness admittedly taking Zahra by surprise.

Zahra had to keep her pose, and fortunately, her expression of surprise was brief. She narrowed her eyes again. "Not until I've washed it down, _snitling_." Zahra surprised even herself by how malevolent she sounded. She hoped the ruse wasn't being humored, as Jareth had done when she tried a temper tantrum in her first encounter with the Goblin King after becoming a goblin.

Hagatha sounded hurt in her reply. "Of course, good Lady goblin. This one lives to serve you in all respects."

Zahra had to be even more convincing. It was fortunate that she didn't like Hagatha much, given her torturous conditioning and training regimen. "And what does this one think she is?" Zahra leered down at the goblin crone as her tone went nasty.

"This one is no better than a bug deserving to be squashed, good Lady goblin." Hagatha pathetically remarked, her head bowed low. She continued to speak as Zahra drank the thick concoction that, despite its ugly appearance, tasted quite delicious, and figured this was a goblin-exclusive delicacy. "This one is not fit to even look upon the good Lady goblin's face."

Zahra then shuddered, and found herself giggling a bit. She surmised that what she had just drank was getting to her head pretty quickly. She didn't even bother to ask what it was, but she didn't want to seem like a pathetic amateur if she was trying to sound convincing as a power-hungry traitor to the Goblin King. She had to 'go with it', so to speak.

She then grabbed two more slices of meat and stuffed it into her waiting mouth, moaning as she chewed. The Horned One quietly watched Zahra devour the meat in a most un-ladylike manner, and then take up the mug of the thick goblin brew to guzzle down the rest of its content greedily.

Zahra sounded entirely tipsy when she next spoke. "I'm done, bug. GET LOST." She growled.

As Hagatha crawled pathetically away, Zahra began to giggle out, muttering about 'squashing a bug' as she obnoxiously guffawed and snorted loudly. Such was her wild bout of giggling that she actually stumbled off the chair, spilling over to the right hoof of the Horned One, who was simply staring down at the drunk goblin.

Zahra rose up, on her hands and knees, looking up to the Horned One. As she did, she barely found herself comprehending that the brew she had drank was quite strong by goblin standards. She fortunately remembered the ruse she needed to hold to, and her expression now looked a bit lascivious.

Although she imagined she would regret it later, she began to lick around her goblin mouth suggestively with her purple goblin tongue as she gazed up at the minotaur. "So what do us poor, insignificant snitlings get when the labyrinth is yours, hm? Do we get to serve _you _food and drink? Or something a bit...more..." She then ran her tongue along the side of the Horned One's right hoof in emphasis. "..._deviant?_"

The minotaur continued to stare down at Zahra for another quiet moment. He then went behind the desk area and grabbed something from behind it. Hoofing back over the the goblin girl, he dropped the exquisite-looking purple garment in front of Zahra.

"Put that on." He growled. The Horned One then went behind the revolving brick wall and left his guest alone once more.

Getting back to her feet, she hoped the ruse sold. At the same time, she needed a moment to stop the spinning in her head. The goblin brew had affected her like a knockout punch, and it was entirely difficult to shake. She began to fear if, by virtue of her indiscretion, she had somehow sabotaged herself. It was bad enough that she had played her hand so...provocatively.

Nevertheless, despite the spinning in her head, she began to remove her Scullery Maid's outfit, and then slipped on what turned out to be a very nicely-designed and regal-looking purple gown, highlighted with golden highlights and a golden lacing design at the waist which, when tightened, would apply a corset-like effect. Owing to her pose, she tightened it enough to allow for a fetching cleavage to show at the exposed, low-cut neckline.

The brick wall swiveled open once again, the massive form of the minotaur figurehead filled the space. "Follow me." He growled.

Taking a deep breath, Zahra stepped over to the swiveling wall. She had to concentrate, though, just to be able to walk in a straight line and try to keep from looking like the goblin brew had affected her so dramatically.

* * *

They walked down a long hallway, with three separate doors on either side, all of them closed. They moved past these doors, approaching the apparent end of the hall, which was just ahead. Zahra could hear the sounds of a large crowd, presumably at the end of the hall, get louder as they moved.

Zahra let out a loud hiccup just as they reached what turned out to be a crude-looking balcony. Two tough-looking goblin guards stood at rigid attention as the minotaur approached. He went right past them and stepped to the balcony's edge, where the crowd suddenly went into a loud roar of approval at the sight of their leader. Knowing Zahra was behind him, he gestured to a series of steps right next to where he was standing, and Zahra ascended these stairs to stand at the Horned One's side.

Looking down, she saw a large menagerie of goblins, most of them wearing suits of spiked black armor, and all of them waving all manner of bladed weaponry. Spotlights then shined directly upon the Horned One, and upon her, and she winced her eyes until they were able to adjust.

It was a veritable swarm down there. Zahra had to wonder if it was enough to overthrow Jareth. Perhaps the magic of those crystals he used would be enough to keep him in power? Would all this posturing ultimately prove futile?

The minotaur raised his clawed hands for silence, and the cacophany lowered in volume to complete silence.

"For years, you have waited." The Horned One began. "For years, you have planned…and now, the pieces are in place…and your moment is finally at hand!"

Another roar of approval. Zahra affected a satisfied face. She couldn't let her worries show.

"We are _legion _compared to the opposition!" The minotaur growled. "Not even the Seelie can stand against us…" The Horned One then pulled the Iron Winter Blade he stole out, holding it over his head in exultation. "…and any who try shall be _un-made!_"

Zahra had to gasp. In this close proximity, she could feel the terrible power of the blade, and she now knew that she, too, could be un-made by it. A collective gasp could also be heard from the throngs below. Various mutters of how their broad-bodied leader could possess such a dangerous weapon rippled around the menagerie below.

And then, another spotlight shined on a wall next to the balcony. A writhing figure in torn black robes with a familiar porcelain mask that was now partially cracked, revealing a portion of the Iron Shadow agent's lips.

Zahra's eyes boggled.

It was Stave.

Painful as it was to see what had happened to her protector, she had to smile in satisfaction at this sight as well, and she lifted her clawed finger up to point upon Stave's chained form and laugh out loud, trying to look as cruel as she could.

Deep within her, however, she felt terrible over Stave's misfortune, and she resolved to begin thinking of a way…any way…to free him once she was outside of goblin scrutiny.

The menagerie down below howled in satisfaction at the sight of Stave's manacled and beaten form. He had been restrained into an "X" pose, his arms and legs spread out. He barely moved, and didn't even bother to try and crane his head over to the balcony area to his right.

"The fall of King Jareth shall bring a new era to the labyrinth." The Horned One continued. "One guided not by a cowardly, deceptive King…"

After a moment, he then fired a clawed finger to Zahra. "…but to a _QUEEN!_"

Zahra now gasped, eyes boggling. She didn't expect this!

"ALL HAIL THE FUTURE GOBLIN QUEEN!" The Horned One roared out. "_ALL HAIL ZAHRA!_"

They were all banging their weapons now in a loud, exultant chant, loud bangs resounding in unison with the utterance of each syllable. "_ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA!_"

The eyes within the broken porcelain mask angled thoughtfully over to the balcony, perhaps wondering how Zahra would react to this.

The Horned One, however, began to tromp away from the balcony, and Zahra followed behind him, still bewildered at this revelation. Had she overplayed her hand?

Midway through the hall, the minotaur turned to Zahra. "You asked me what the goblins will get once Jareth is overthrown." He growled. "They will get _you_."

"I…I don't know what to say…" Zahra hissed, briefly thrown from her pose. "…I…I am…overwhelmed."

"Your servants await you…" The Horned One pointed to a closed door. "…in there."

Zahra began to move towards the door, which had two black-armored goblin guards flanking it…but then, she felt the massive blade of the minotaur's axe to her right, the blade resting against her shoulder, stopping her.

"Never…_never_…bite the hand that feeds you, goblin." The Horned One warned. Zahra then heard the hoof-steps of the minotaur walk away from her, leaving her to approach the offered door unimpeded.

The goblin guards stood to rigid attention as she moved closer to the door, which opened at her approach.

Six servants attended to her needs once they led her inside. Zahra didn't need to do much of anything, but she kept quiet as the servants seemed to cater to her every desire. She was anointed in beautiful jewlery arrays, given rings, and her face was made over in a beautifully wicked manner. Her hair was fixed and cleaned. She was offered more meats and given more of the thick, black goblin brew she had drank before.

Zahra was offered a place to relax, a long cushion shaped in the manner of a recliner, and with the fresh buzz in her head from the drink and her hunger sated by all the delicious meats, she temporarily let go of her concerns and basked in the glow of extravagance.

It soon became difficult for her to remember that she was only playing a role, and she needed to stick to it for the sake of not only her friends, but for Stave as well.

But one thing was becoming dreadfully apparent, perhaps because the brew was so delicious, and perhaps as a consequence of her getting used to the inebriating state it produced.

She began to _love_ being a Queen.

She began to _want _it…


	27. Chapter 27: Odds and Ends

Nothing perked up the aged, wrinkled and unpleasant-smelling Junk People more than the moment when the labyrinth suddenly, unexpectedly shifted.

It was an opportunity for them to scavenge anew, and gather up any manner of debris or bric-a-brac that had been discarded by the Goblin King, or had been otherwise disabled through the shifting itself.

Around the time Sarah Williams had been dropped down into the labyrinth, the Junk People were assessing the damage the shifting had inflicted, often risking goblin bullying as they did so. Around the time Sarah had begun making her way to the center of the maze and finding its secret door, however, their scavenging had produced a considerable amount of refuse, a lot of it metallic and gear-based in nature. Walking Cannon armor, unused trap mechanisms, various powders and trinkets, bottles of liquids(including one which was filled with raw extract from the Bog of Eternal Stench), even discarded walls that were fortified with blades and wicked weaponry...a "slice" within the narrow passages of the first labyrinth's maze which once threatened Sarah Williams.

The Junk People imagined they could open up a bazaar with their collected bounty following the shifting. Not one Junk Person came out of the scavenging period empty-handed, although often what the Junk People perceived to be valuable was actually anything but. Odd-shaped or odd-colored rocks...broken pieces of pictures or sculptures...fur shed from the body of a wandering troll...even something as insignificant as a sky blue marble could be perceived as a veritable relic by the Junk People.

The one item the Junk People considered themselves _very _fortunate in finding also tested the limits of their patience.

It was the lost head of one of the red-furred Fire Gang. The long-eared, bug-eyed extremity had warned that if its body was not found within a day, it would plague the Junk People for as long as its head remained free of its body.

The Firey head would warble and screech horrible songs. The Firey would also simply natter out nonsensical babble at the highest volume. The Junk People logically found this torture driving them to the brink of their limits.

A bit of thick cloth with a large knot at its center...wrapped tightly around the Firey's head, the knot serving as a ball-gag...solved this persistent problem quite handily. Although the Firey would try persistent mumbling and murmuring...and even singing, in the form of obnoxious, but muted hums...to get on the nerves of its captors, the Firey head saw that it wasn't really affecting them as much as it could without the presence of the gag in its mouth, and the head often just gave up and went quiet.

Even one of these Junk People could potentially provide items of some strategic importance, and it was during Sarah's celebratory revelries in her room in the wake of her first victory over Jareth that Hoggle became acquainted with one of them...and before they all returned to the Underground, the Junk Lady that had become acquainted with Sarah had also been introduced to Hoggle as well.

It was this Junk Lady who now led the journeys of her people. Once individual and nomadic, they had made the choice to group up and migrate around. With the demise of the previous junk person who led them ten years ago, this leader lost to cruel goblin persecution, it was left to the Junk Lady to change policy and unify them all so they could stand together in the face of future threats to their existence in the labyrinth.

As each junk person could effectively form a small bazaar through their collected wares, a union of their findings could potentially yield unexpected riches and resources.

Hoggle knew this.

And in his planning to reunite with Zahra, he counted on this possibility.

Within the ten-year timespan since the Junk Lady became their figurehead, Hoggle knew when and where the exodus of her junk people would be located, and as they slowly tromped through the landscapes of the labyrinth, they spotted Hoggle's group and curiously drifted towards them.

The wrinkled Junk Lady had the same lazy look on her face that she always had. She seemed a little more tired, though, as she carried her huge burden of bric-a-brac upon her back. Behind her were the others of her kind, drifting slowly along behind the Junk Lady much like a Buffalo guiding a herd of her young around the open plains. The other junk people were similarly wrinkled humans with lazy eyes, grayed-out hair and large packs of their scavengings burdening their backs significantly. Some were male, and some were female. Differing hairstyles set them apart from each other.

The Junk Lady peered upon the group that was blocking their passage. They had all formed into a _very _long and narrow line, and it was vital that they be able to follow along a visible road to be able to migrate effectively. Interestingly enough, Hoggle's group stood in the middle of a crossroads intersection, knowing full well the progress of the caravan would be stopped.

"Doesn't this seem a bit rude, master dwarf?" Cerenede asked.

"They've got to have _something _to help us get through those snitlings." Hoggle responded. "Besides...sometimes, these junk people like to show off their stuff from time to time."

"They have been curiously quiet as of late." Sir Didymus advised. "Not even bothering to acknowledge those around them. This gesture may be for nothing."

"Worth a twy." Ludo growled.

Cerenede tilted her head, a sympathetic look on her face. "Dear me...they all look so _tired!_"

Hoggle stepped out in front of the group as the Junk Lady neared her. The old crone continued to stare upon the road as she approached the dwarf. When she found that a pair of dwarven shoes faced her, she slowly lifted her head, her eyes going from shoes to knees to waist, and then from chest to Hoggle's large eyes, which stared back at her.

A tired male voice spoke out behind her, about four bodies down along the line. "What's the hold-up?"

The Junk Lady peered up closer to Hoggle...and then snorted in derision. "Hmph. Just a fuddy-duddy dwarf." She then reached up to the half-buried stick that was just above her head, pulling its full-length out, and then poking it at Hoggle. "Shove off, fuddy-duddy dwarf!"

"Ow! Hey! Don't you remember me? From the party at the champion's house?" Hoggle asked, crouching low enough for the old humanoid to seee, and hoping the old crone would remember him.

The Junk Lady stepped even closer to the dwarf, her little nose inches from Hoggle's own long nose. "Ahhhh...the dwarf from the Champion's party in the world above." The Junk Lady then nodded. "I remember you now."

And then, in the next moment, she began striking Hoggle with repeated swings of the stick. "YOU PINCHED MY BUM, YOU CAD! YOU RUFFIAN! YOU...YOU FUDDYBUG!"

"OW! OW! HEY! STOP THAT!" Hoggle cried, trying to shield himself from the repeated blows. "I didn't pinch you! You sat on a thumbtack!"

"Please, dear! This is _most _un-ladylike behavior!" Sir Didymus protested.

"Bad Hoggle! No pinching!" Ludo scolded, waving a finger shamefully to Hoggle as he was being bludgeoned.

The Junk Lady turned briefly to Ludo, her eyes boggling, and she gasped in horror. She then whipped her head back to the dwarf. "SO YOU _DID _PINCH ME!" _Whap!_ "FUDDYBUG!" _Whap! _"WRETCH!" _Whap! _"SLUG!" _Whap! _"CRETIN!"

"YOU...ow!...SAT...aiee!...ON...gah!...A...eyoww!. ..THUMBTACK!" Hoggle cried out, still being mercilessly pummelled by the Junk Lady.

Cerenede quickly stepped in to intervene on the developing chaos, particularly for the grumbling that was erupting from the rest of the line. "Please stop fighting!" She called out.

At the sound of the girl's voice, the entire line stopped speaking, and the Junk Lady slowly turned to gaze upon the beautiful young elf-eared humanoid.

Once again, the same tired old male voice spoke out again from the caravan line. "What's the hold-up?"

"_Quiet_, number four!" the Junk Lady squawked. Her tone became much more inviting when she looked back upon the girl. "We are in the presence...of a young Sidhe!"

"Did she say 'Sidhe'?" A female junk woman eight positions down the line called out.

"That's what she said." Number four confirmed.

"What's a Sidhe doin' where Sidhe don't go?" a dopey-sounding junk man's voice asked.

"She's a spy in disguise! Swat her!" came another obnoxious female voice from the line.

"Maybe she's a bad Sidhe." Another low, tired voice mused.

"Good Sidhe, bad Sidhe...she's still a Sidhe!" Number four exclaimed. A chorus of 'ohhhh's followed.

Cerenede immediately applied her trained courtesy. "Good day, Miss Junk Lady." She punctuated her statement with a curtsey-like gesture. "May we see your wares for a bit of time?"

The Junk Lady gasped out loud, entirely shocked at this request. "Y...you...want to...to see...our wares?" She inquired in disbelief. "Our _bundles?_"

"If quite convenient, Miss Junk Lady?" Cerenede asked. "My friends and I are awfully curious. Can you not let the past go for a spell? It would be most inconvenient of you to linger an odd grudge!"

The Junk Lady blinked, lowering her stick. She then turned to face her line, and saw that they were all looking anxiously upon her.

"FOOOOOR-MA-TIONNNN!" The Junk Lady called out.

At that, the entire line of junk people began a march step. With the weights upon their backs, their steps were quite loud, and it sounded very military in nature. After a moment of marching in place, they began to arrange themselves off the road and in a manner resembling a huge outdoor flea market. They then began to pull off their loads and arrange their wares as if following a routine.

Only the Junk Lady made no effort to unload herself. She instead flourished upon the junk sections presided over by her people. "We would be _honored _to have a Sidhe so sweet appraise our wares."

"Pick me! Pick me!" Number four exclaimed, practically hopping in place.

"Me first! Pleeeeease!" A female voice strained to exclaim.

The Sidhe girl, however, immediately moved to the junk woman who held position 17 on the line. Something had caught Cerenede's eye and she was hurrying over to take a closer look. Ludo, Hoggle, and Didymus...mounted on Ambrosius...followed behind her.

The junk woman smiled a somewhat devious grin as she pulled the exquisite-looking cloth from the mound of junk she had settled upon the grassy plain. Cerenede picked it up to appraise it. "It's _beautiful!_" the Sidhe girl exclaimed as she wrapped it around her neck. "Textured fairy silk!"

The other junk people began whispering 'seventeen' among them, with a great deal of reverence.

The junk man next to 17 now stepped up to the Sidhe girl. "This ring would go great with that fairy silk, Miss Sidhe." He slipped it onto her ring finger, Cerenede marveling at the color of the bright stone. 17 then added a ring of preserved flower heads around Cerenede's neck.

"Dear me, it all looks so _wonderful!_" Cerenede turned to Hoggle. "Don't you agree, master dwarf? How do I look?"

But Hoggle began to look wary now. He knew that one of the dangers of being around the junk people was that if one got too attached to their wares, other junk people would pile on more and more of their supposedly valuable trinkets and items. Such was their magic, which few could resist. They could make _anything _seem attractive and worth keeping, and it seemed to the dwarf that poor Cerenede was coming under the spell of the wrinkled caravan.

"Now, now, Cerenede...we need to concentrate on the beautiful human, remember?" Hoggle remarked, his tone cautious. "We need to find something that will help _us!_"

But other junk people were now converging on Cerenede, offering different wares. All of it useless, but quite appealing to the Sidhe girl. One of them was now coloring Cerenede's lips in a bright red lipstick, while another had placed a sparkling, fashionable beret upon her head.

"But...it's all...so pretty..." Cerenede chimed, and it seemed apparent that she was indeed losing herself to the onslaught of fetching giveaways.

Didymus now looked distraught, wondering how the situation could be resolved. Something to break this influence the junk people were quite obviously applying to the Sidhe girl. He, too, knew of the effect applied by this wrinkled lot. He even heard rumors of those so taken by their wares that they, too, became junk people.

But Cerenede then began to sniff curiously. She turned her head to a junk man offering a stick of solid bamboo...but the young Sidhe fired a slender finger towards an item upon this junk man's belt. A large potion bottle containing an ugly-looking substance which reminded her of the awful appearance of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

"Could you give that to the master dwarf, please?" Cerenede sweetly asked. "We could use that, somehow!"

The junk man blinked, and now, her fellow junk people murmured of this one...number nine...in reverence.

Number nine stepped up to Hoggle and presented the potion bottle to the dwarf. "Take this, brother. May it serve you well." The low-voiced junk man remarked.

Cerenede then rose up and began walking among the bundles dropped down by the junk people. Hoggle arched a brow upon seeing this. Was Cerenede coming out of the influence? Had she resisted them? Had she even been affected at all?

It wouldn't have surprised Hoggle if it were the latter. Cerenede was one of the Sidhe, and even in their youngest years, they had considerable magic power. This Sidhe girl was already capable of healing enchantments, and it was possible that with her knowledge of healing also came a degree of magic resistance.

The Sidhe girl then wandered over to another junk person's pile, spotting what looked to be a discarded metal helmet. "Ooh! That helmet looks about as big as your head, master dwarf!"

"Bah. I wouldn't be able to see through that metal faceplate." Hoggle noted.

Ludo tromped over to the helmet, and noticed that the faceplate was hinged, and not very securely fastened. With one good tug, the faceplate came off with a loud snap, much to the junk person's chagrin.

The Rock Troll then handed the helmet to Hoggle. "Pwobwem sowved." The hairy giant remarked. Re-appraising the helm, Hoggle placed it upon his head, and found it a little more acceptable.

"Forsooth!Thou dost _truly _look like a knight _now_, brother!" Sir Didymus observed.

"Verily." Hoggle replied, offering his chevalier comrade a wink.

Ludo, however, caught sight of movement by one of the junk bundles. Something dark. The hairy Rock Troll began to wander among the bundles.

Ambrosius also caught on to this, and began padding through the bundles. "Ho! Ambrosius? Where are we goo-ooOOOAAAAWWH!"

The sheepdog now dashed in, having spotted the intruder among the piles, barking loudly. Ludo also tromped forward quickly. Curiously, Hoggle followed along behind them, as did Cerenede.

"Ah-_hah! _I see the little rotter now!" Didymus noted, finally catching sight of the small, ugly-looking creature attempting to hide and skulk around the piles as Ambrosius and Ludo attempted to advance on him.

In a last desperate attempt to go unseen, the skulker dashed into an open spot big enough to fit his small form, but Ambrosius saw him move into the space, and the sheepdog began barking wildly in front of the creature's terrified form.

Ludo tromped in and reached a large, clawed hand into the space, pulling the small creature out of the space for all to see.

It was a goblin.

Although, ugly as it was, it was nevertheless terrified...and when they heard him speak, it didn't sound very insidious at all.

In fact, it sounded surprisingly human. Much like a young boy, in fact.

"Ahhhh! Wait! Please don't hurt me! Put me down!" The goblin protested, flailing wildly in Ludo's grip. "I'm really not one of them! I can explain!"

"The _last _goblin we helped nearly cast a blade into the back of one of our friends." Didymus warily noted. "Give us one good reason why we should trust thee?"

"I was taken by the Goblin King ten years ago!" the ugly goblin, who was dressed in a very dirty-looking loincloth, replied. "I used to be _human!_"

Hoggle had arrived to hear this response, and the dwarf was immediately intrigued. "Ludo...put him down."

"He could _wun_." Ludo remarked.

"Ambrosius will simply sniff him out again." Didymus reasoned, glancing down to his mount. "Won't you, dear boy?"

Ambrosius barked in confirmation.

Ludo lowered the goblin down, but kept him in sight as the group surrounded him, along with other curious junk people. "I won't run." the goblin assured. "My name used to be Billy Hobson, but...well...Jareth's been calling me Hob ever since he took me and...changed me into _this_. The name stuck."

"So…how'd you wind up in the labyrinth?" Hoggle asked.

"Jareth told me my Aunt Margot cursed me for a goblin. Screamed out for someone to take me away 'cause she got frustrated with me." Hob explained. He then sighed, hanging his head lamentedly. "As you can see, she got her wish." He muttered.

Sir Didymus tilted his head in curiosity. "And...how long hast thou been shadowing us?"

"I wasn't shadowing you." Hob protested. "I was locked up in a cell in the Goblin City before Jareth changed the labyrinth and wrecked it. I guess he forgot I was in there. I'm lucky to have lived through that." Hob noted, pausing a moment to sniffle through his gnarled nose, the sound of which came out as an obnoxious porcine snort. "I've been trying to make my way around without any goblins seeing me. I thought maybe I could get stuff from here and build something."

"Oh! You have a talent for building things?" Cerenede asked.

Hob shrugged at this. "Most goblins do. That's one of the first things a kid who becomes a goblin is trained to do. To build things."

"And thou hast been in this domain for ten years?" Sir Didymus asked.

Hob nodded.

Cerenede stepped up to Hob, who seemed to react bashfully to the beautiful Sidhe girl's approach. "I wonder, Mister Hob, if you could create something from some of the odds and ends to be found among these bundles?" She asked, her tone sweetly curious.

Hob tilted his head. "What kinda things you want me to build? I made a neat slicing wall once..."

* * *

A gentle nudging stirred the champion of the labyrinth from her rest. Her eyes blinked, and she raised a hand to rub at them as she sat up from her bed.

In her room.

Surrounded by her old toys and books and belongings.

Back home.

Sarah's eyes boggled. She then looked down at her hands.

They were _human _again!

Leaping out of her bed, clad only in a long, flowing white nightgown, she raced over to the mirror at her dresser, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Her long, black hair was back, her ears were normal, her face was normal.

Was it all one big, horrible dream?

Stepping back, trying to comprehend her situation, she then heard the 'hoot' of an owl from her bedroom window. Moving to look outside, she saw that a familiar-looking white owl had indeed perched near her home, and it was now curiously glancing towards her.

An even more familiar voice intoned behind her, coming from the bed. "Well, now...that was one dilemma I didn't need _your_ help with, apparently?"

Sarah whipped her head back to the bed to find Jareth laying upon it, his legs crossed and his hands kneaded behind his head, looking quite relaxed in his position of luxury, his upper body propped up to gaze upon the bewildered human.

"Jareth?" Sarah tilted her head curiously. "Wha...wh..who...who..." She was trying to say other words, but only one kept emerging from her lips. "...who..."

"I figured you were getting comfortable as their new sovereign, _Zahra_." Jareth firmly noted. "So I exerted all my power to rally against the Horned One. I now have absolute control over the labyrinth. Just like I now have control over you."

Sarah blinked, feeling very weird now. "...wh...who...who?"

"You, dear!" Jareth swung his legs to the side of the bed and rose to his feet. "I have control over you! Or have you forgotten that the Seelie gave you to me? You are a goblin, after all."

Sarah's eyes boggled now, looking terrified for the only word she found herself capable of speaking! "..._WHOOOOOO?_"

Jareth's gloved hands caressed at both sides of her head, staring into her now different-looking eyes despite her vivid distress. "And since you're mine, I should tell you that while my beloved wife...the Lady Vestrie...has a considerable fondness for unicorns, can you guess what manner of creature I have a fondness for, my sweet bird?"

Tears streamed down Sarah's face, which began growing a pattern of feathers. "Whoooo...?" She whimpered in a pleading tone.

"Very good, pet." Jareth grinned, his hands tracing down to Sarah's arms. "I knew you'd remember what you're giving such a hoot about."

Jareth then shook at Sarah's arms, roughly, the arms blossoming to become a pair of wings with every shake. As Sarah's mouth began forming into a beak, and her feet mutated to those of an owl, Jareth slowly disrobed his quarry to reveal that her entire body was now covered in owl feathers.

The Goblin King then stared into Sarah's owl eyes. "I'd have you fly away with me, dear..." He stroked at the feathers on the owl's head softly. His eyes, however, soon glowered upon Sarah's as the entire room began to glow with a bright white light. "...but after everything you've done to me, you deserve to be in a _CAGE!_"

* * *

Zahra snorted out of her nightmare, her goblin eyes boggling, her goblin body quaking with fright.

Gazing down at her hands, she saw the same green-skinned, claw-tipped goblin fingers as well. Four on each hand.

Just a horrible, vivid dream. Zahra sighed out relaxedly.

Her peripheral vision, however, caught sight of a package that had been left for her. A metallic box. Upon the top of this box was written her name, in a very nice-looking script.

Jumping down from her exquisitely-designed bed, she stepped over to the box and opened it wide.

Within a covering of soft velvet cloth, Zahra gasped at yet another familiar sight. A sight which she was used to seeing dance around Jareth's hands and arms.

It was a pair of crystal orbs.

Exactly the same orbs she had seen Jareth manipulate so hypnotically before her twenty years ago when they first met.

And now, she apparently had a pair of her own.

Zahra blinked, wondering just how long it would be before she could figure out how to make these orbs dance around her own little arms. Still, she figured it wouldn't hurt to just pick one up...

...and upon lifting one of them, it began slipping around her arm on its own before settling upon the palm of her hand. She gasped in surprise. Grabbing the other one, the orb did the same thing, settling upon her other hand.

The corners of Zahra's goblin mouth began to curl slowly upward.

The orbs then began to slip around her as if they were two kids playing gleefully around her, and Zahra began to giggle with the feel of the orbs slipping all around her. When they rolled back to her hands, they clung to her palms...

...and then lifted her off the ground!

Initially thrown by this unexpected development, she tried to relax, seeing as how the magic orbs were perhaps acclimating to their new owner, and the orbs slowly parted Zahra's arms to the sides, keeping her airborne.

They then began drifting Zahra forward, guiding her along a path that drifted downward, and then out one of the exhaust areas beneath the airborne castle of the Goblin King, leaving her free to fly about the skies above the labyrinth realm.

The green-skinned goblin that had once been Sarah Williams willed the orbs to take her faster and higher, breathing in the night skies as she smiled in her elation, feeling the winds whip at her glittering, deep blue nightgown.

She didn't care to go anywhere in particular. She just savored the notion of being able to fly.

She closed her eyes, not wanting this exhilarating experience to end. She spent the entire rest of the night in the skies over the labyrinth. The orbs kept her aloft as they danced around her little body again and again, provoking a giggle from the tickly feeling they were giving her as they rolled around her.

Eventually, the orbs turned Zahra back towards the castle of the Goblin King, floating her along a path that sent her in through its exhaust portions below the castle and then back to her quarters. The orbs gently deposited her back upon the bed before detaching from her hands, and rolling back into the metal case. The case even shut tight, on its own, once the orbs were secure within it, surrounded by the velvet cloth.

Exhilarated by this unexpected experience, Zahra once again slipped off of her bed and poured herself another large mug of the goblin brew she kept near her bed. Gulping down large portions of the thick liquid, she once again felt its dizzy, disorienting buzz, and she staggered back to her bed.

The inebriating state, she found, made it easier for her to relax, and she eventually closed her eyes, beginning a renewed state of slumber that would persist well past the morning hours.

More than enough time for the Horned One to deal with Jareth at long last.

* * *

Jareth stared into the early morning sky thoughtfully, his gloved hands behind his back, his right hand gripping his left wrist thoughtfully.

He had thought to explain everything to his new servant, Zahra. Explain Vanity. Explain his involvement with the Lady Vestrie. Explain why he had such an interest in Sarah Williams, and why he had set her and Toby up.

Just one more time, he then thought, he would wait until Zahra came to him, rather than demanding for her presence this early in the morning. After everything the little goblin had been through, he felt she deserved a little extra rest.

Besides...if she did come calling to him this early, he'd probably make her wait anyway. Leave her to wonder if she should dutifully stay put and wait for when he answered the door at long last, or step away to hang out with the goblin menagerie a bit more. If she did decide on the latter case, he could gleefully adopt another pose and scold her, perhaps even make good on his previous intention to make her look like a goblin doll.

Either way, he felt like flying today. Feeling the winds cascading against him for a time.

Jareth jumped over the railing of the balcony and dropped down fast, his body once again assuming the form of a white barn owl. Spreading out his wings, the Goblin King coasted at an angle and leveled out, flapping his wings to begin his impromptu journey over the lands he maintained absolute power over.

He soared over that section of the labyrinth that used to be the Goblin City. It was now a veritable ruin repurposed and reshaped as maze corridors filled with False Alarms. He imagined that the goblins themselves might have a bone to pick with their King after what he had done to the area he allowed them to inhabit, but he didn't want any one portion of the zones looking too familiar to the champion of the labyrinth who had dared to challenge him. As he made his proclamation to Sarah Williams prior to her drop into the labyrinth grounds, that was the moment when he channelled his will unto the labyrinth, changing it entirely, and devastating all that it was after twenty whole years of sitting idle. Ten years before he affected the realm's shifting, he had wanted to challenge an entirely different person who had wished a child away, but this woman's complete disinterest in the child effectively gave him the boy by default, and this child…Billy Hobson…was made to join Jareth's menagerie.

Such a pity, he remembered thinking as the boy's human features wrinkled and warped.

Besides, he had reasoned to himself, this 'Aunt Margot' who had wished Billy away was far too old to be of any interest to him. She would have given up far too quickly. She would not have lasted thirteen hours.

In fact, Jareth had surmised that Margot would have been very lucky to get through the first thirteen _minutes _of the labyrinth Sarah had conquered.

In recollecting this moment, he nearly missed catching sight of yet another distinct avian presence, this one a magnificent-looking snowy owl gliding along the clear skies just above him.

Jareth knew that the Lady Vestrie liked to fly with him in this very form in their time together prior to the Goblin King's involvement with Sarah Williams. Those were far more carefree times. Admittedly happier ones for Jareth. They had just completed their caper to steal the magic artifacts, and they chose to bask in the glow of their victory by taking flight within Jareth's domain.

And now, Vestrie wanted to coast alongside Jareth once more. The snowy owl even gave Jareth the wink that confirmed it really was her, and he flapped up to take his place at her left flank.

The last time they did this, they spent half the day above the labyrinth grounds. They then flew back to Jareth's castle and spent the rest of the day in the Goblin King's double bed.

This time, however, Vestrie had apparently wanted to coast down into a woodland portion of the labyrinth, not too far from the Tree of Truth. Her flight took her low…very low…to the ground, hovering just above. Jareth matched her, feeling challenged and compelled by this new trick. Perhaps she had wanted to show him how much better she had gotten in the form of an owl, contrary to the last occasion where he practically flew rings around her, given her unfamiliarity with the form.

Vestrie then began flapping herself upwards in a gradual ascent, weaving from side to side through trees as if it were a slalom skiing course. Very impressive, Jareth thought. Vestrie had no doubt been practicing!

She then surged forward in a burst of speed, passing a large tree. Jareth kept an eye on her, allowing her to take the lead…

…only to suddenly collide with a pattern of unseen metal bars that had quickly been thrust in front of the barn owl. He then heard a bird cage door slam shut behind him. His first instinct was to change back and confront whomever it was who had made the mistake of intruding on his pleasant flight…

…but he found he could not! Despite the exertion of his concentration, he remained in his avian form. No doubt the cage he had suddenly collided into, and was now trapped inside of, had been enchanted to nullify any manner of spellcasting attempted by its occupant.

The snowy owl swooped back into view outside of the cage, and landed upon the ground, shifting its shape quickly in a single, graceful twirl. Where the snowy owl once was, the Lady Vestrie now stood.

She looked a bit regretful, too.

Jareth turned his owl head towards whomever was holding the cage aloft…and saw the head of a monstrous minotaur staring angrily back at him. The beast breathed out a contemptuous snort of its enchanted breath, and the owl's senses began to spin.

Vestrie stepped up to the Horned One. No manner of satisfaction showed on her face as she spoke. "I do thank you for this grace. I realize you would rather have Jareth dead, but…well, that would render my half of the bargain forefeit, wouldn't it? I'd blow your cover and spread the word all over the Seelie Court."

The Horned One settled the large cage to the ground, settling his huge axe next to it, and then tromped up closer to the Sidhe noblewoman. As he did, his form began to shift. The huge, brown-furred body became a little slimmer, the fur receding until pale, flawless skin could be seen. His hooves mutated and bulged until they had five humanoid toes, and the horns on his head disappeared into his skull, the muzzle receding inwards until the face of the Sidhe Lord Angaron could once again be recognized by Vestrie.

Angaron stared into the blond Sidhe woman's eyes. "Give me time, my love. Don't curse me for a rotter just yet." Angaron began, in a tone that was surprisingly tender. "Let me mend the rift between us. The pieces are in place now, and I promise that both of your friends will survive what will now follow."

"Your scar runs deep, 'darling'." Vestrie contemptuously remarked. "You ruined a perfectly good arrangement between myself, Jareth, and…the champion of the labyrinth, whom I had marked as my own before you…"

"I needed her, milady Vestrie." Angaron reasoned. "Through Zahra, the labyrinth effectively becomes the property of the Seelie Court. A whole menagerie full of assets under the rule of the perfect puppet ruler. She's a pretty treacherous little goblin wench, too. From what I have seen? She seems to be enjoying her new life a little _too _much."

"And what of Jareth?" Vestrie asked. "I suppose you want me to keep him in this cage until the end of time? I'm afraid that won't do, Angaron."

"I need time to consolidate power within the labyrinth, beloved." Angaron explained. "Work a little trick or two upon their new Queen. A considerable stretch of time may be necessary for the goblins to fully accept Zahra as their new ruler. Once I am convinced, I should feel comfortable enough to surrender the cage to you." Angaron brought a hand up to move a lock of hair away from Vestrie's right eye. "Do you trust me?"

Vestrie glanced over to the birdcage where Jareth was now trapped. She then looked back to Angaron, and shot a finger over to the cage in emphasis. "Not a finger, Angaron. Are we quite clear?"

"By my word, the Goblin King shall remain unspoiled." Angaron solemnly swore.

"I…have another favor to ask. This one not quite as important." Vestrie hesitantly added. "My servant girl has disappeared. She took Jezebel with her and they're both lost somewhere in the labyrinth. If you find them, I want them back with me alive. Bear in mind, too, that returning Cerenede and Jezebel to me will make it far more likely that you will actually be able to mend our little rift. I imagine that would please you greatly, o' 'Horned One'?"

Angaron grinned lasciviously. "In a manner you should be looking forward to with great anticipation."

Vestrie, however, shook her head in disgust as she stepped over to the cage where Jareth was now held. She knelt down to gaze upon the barn owl's eyes.

"I'm sure you probably hate me for this right now…" Vestrie hesitantly began. "…but I hope that in time, you'll understand why, and perhaps even forgive me for it."

Vestrie then rose back to her feet and began to walk away, once again assuming an avian form, this one her more customary white dove, when she was out of sight.

Jareth heard hooves slam the ground outside the cage. No doubt Angaron was back in his minotaur form. The huge beast picked up Jareth's prison and began his journey back to the castle of the Goblin King.

Angaron even took his time, knowing full well that there was no one of perceived significance left who was powerful enough to stand against his treacherous designs.

And once he had Zahra lost to his influence, the labyrinth would truly be his at long last.


	28. Chapter 28: The Coronation

**AUTHOR'S NOTE - The goblin language depicted in this story is not meant to resemble any words or phrases from any existing foreign languages. Any similarity to any foreign languages, fictional or otherwise, is purely coincidental! :)**

* * *

It was well into the afternoon hours when Zahra finally stirred from her rest. She suffered no hangover, however, from the goblin brew she had been drinking. She did feel a little less reserved, however, in her demeanor since enduring her first buzz from the brew. Was this tantalizing black beverage gradually making her more of a goblin? Was what was left of the old champion of the labyrinth slowly eroding? Was she doomed to devolve until she was no different from the rest of the menagerie? Her urge to lick at the minotaur's hoof was surprising enough to her, and she hoped the brutish minotaur called the Horned One would not begin to abuse this gesture.

Her first urge, however, was to somehow confront the fallen agent that was now a prisoner of the goblin malcontents. Zahra was running out of patience. There was a question she had to ask him about Jareth and his new labyrinth.

She had to ask him about the secret door that she had apparently not found yet. Even with the time constraints now seemingly dropped, she was still determined to find this door.

But if it wasn't literally a hidden panel within a wall, what kind of a secret door was it? Who was the 'he' that the Tree of Truth had mentioned?

Zahra pondered these things as she stood in front of the mirror in her quarters, staring upon her goblin image. It was still tough to grasp what had happened to her. How she had become the very creature she had fought so hard...twenty years ago...to keep Toby from becoming.

She wondered where Toby was in the world above, and what kind of life he was leading. Zahra had not talked to Toby for so long since he had moved away. She always came to the rationale that he would eventually try and contact her, so she didn't worry much about it.

That would, of course, now be quite impossible unless she could somehow be restored to her human form and identity, and be returned to the world above. If that were possible, finding Toby and telling him about these new experiences would be the one thing she'd want to share with him.

She silently hoped, as she continued to stare at her goblin features, that Toby was at least happy with whatever life he had made for himself, somewhere in the world above.

Two doorways led out of Zahra's quarters. One led to a living room area, where the recliner was located. The other door led to the servants quarters. She had been told by one of her six servants...Flavia...that if she needed any service whatsoever, the door should be given two solid knocks.

Zahra gave this door two hard raps, and the six servants quickly emerged from the door, dropping to the ground before her to await Zahra's whim.

Zahra sighed. Time to get back into her more arrogant pose. "Make me pretty." She firmly remarked.

The green-skinned goblin girl was led into the living room and placed back upon the recliner. Once again, she surrendered herself to their trained touch as they fixed her face up with a fetching new makeup arrangement, and clothed her in an attractively casual red outfit which not only exposed her cleavage once again, but her abdomen as well. This outfit had no skirt, making a full range of movement possible. Her hair had been arranged into a topknot this time, the hair length snaking in a fat braid over her left shoulder. Flavia herself added a sleeveless, deep blue coat to round out her look. With two loud claps of her four-fingered hands, Zahra dismissed her servants and stepped over to the entrance door to her quarters.

Once the door was open, she found the Horned One standing in front of it, holding a large birdcage in his right hand.

And inside the cage was a _very _familiar-looking white barn owl.

"Another gift, o' Horned One?" Zahra mused. "Loved the balls, by the way."

The minotaur snorted in amusement. "This..." He indicated the cage. "...is not for you. In fact, you will stay as far away from this bird as possible. He is..." The bull-man's head glanced to the idle-looking owl within. "...a _trophy_."

Zahra blinked. "That's Jareth, isn't it?"

The Horned One angled his head angrily towards Zahra, coming very close. "That's none of your business. Remember what I said about biting the hand feeding you, goblin."

Zahra sighed out in a display of irritation. "Oh, fine, fine." The little goblin then smirked to the minotaur. "I'm having more than enough fun with my new balls anyway. What brought you to my door, anyway?" She then grinned provocatively, stroking a finger along a portion of her exposed cleavage. "Did you want to get _naughty_ with the future royal highness?"

"Tempting me like that is _dangerous_, Zahra." The Horned One menacingly replied. "Your coronation will begin this evening. You will then be relocated to a larger room in the castle."

Zahra gasped in a convincing display of elated, childlike surprise. "Are you giving me Jareth's private quarters?"

"STOP." The minotaur firmly, loudly remarked.

Zahra, however, opted for a dangerously petulant response to this. "OH, KNOCK IT OFF, YA BIG OL' BULLY! YOU WANT ME TO BE YOUR NEW QUEEN, DON'T YOU? THEN YOU ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!" She cried. "ONE! IS THAT BIRD JARETH?"

The outburst had caused the Horned One to lurch back a tad. He didn't expect this, but he decided to humble himself to these 'questions' just this once. "Yes." He replied.

"TWO! ARE YOU GIVING ME JARETH'S QUARTERS?" Zahra hollered.

The Horned One slowly nodded. "Yes." He growled.

Zahra then smiled sweetly, her tone going sugary soft. "There! That wasn't so tough, was it?"

The Horned One's moan came out as a menacing rumble. His other hand tightened his grip on the Axe he held. Nevertheless, he remained calm.

Zahra continued her performance. "Awww, I didn't bwuise my big, bad bull's ego, did I?" She coyly remarked, her lips forming a pout. "I'm such a _nasty_ little snitling." She then lowered to her knees, looking submissively up to the minotaur's glowering muzzle. "When do I get to be punished, hmm?"

After a moment, the Horned One's eyes narrowed. "In due time." He then growled in response.

The minotaur then lifted the birdcage from the ground once again and tromped away from the green-skinned goblin with heavy hoof-falls.

Left to her own whims, Zahra went down the hall to the balcony area, which was already being prepared by a small group of goblins for the coronation. The goblin woman then looked over to where Stave had been manacled.

He was not there.

A familiar voice behind her then spoke out. A voice that once held a blade to her throat. "He's down in our dungeon area." He remarked. "I can take you there, if you wish."

Zahra turned her head to him. "You never told me your name, goblin."

The goblin grinned lasciviously. "Hax." He stepped up close to Zahra. "Why? Did you want to get to know me better?"

Zahra noticed that this disgusting goblin had a large nose ring piercing, and she immediately grabbed it and pulled hard, causing Hax to groan in pain. "Call out directions to the dungeon." Zahra growled, dragging Hax along behind her with hard tugs. "And quit dragging your feet!"

Zahra's feistiness took Hax by surprise, and the tugs at his nose ring were quite painful. He nevertheless called out compass directions as the fetching, but feisty green goblin girl followed his directional instructions.

As much as he had wanted to run her through for this, there was a fairly significant problem.

She was to be Queen of their people.

* * *

Zahra directed the goblin jailer to open Stave's cell, seeing as how he was chained up in the very same way that he was when the fallen Iron Shadow agent was displayed before the menagerie by the balcony, when the Horned One addressed his rebel army. He was still in his tattered black robes, and the broken mask was still on his face. He had been stretched into an "X" pose.

The future Queen turned to Hax and the jailer. "Get out. I'm talking with him alone." She growled.

Although the jailer looked wary, Hax grabbed him and dragged him outside the cell area, closing the fortified door behind him.

Zahra stared up at Stave, who wearily angled his head up a little to look upon the green goblin girl.

She kept her voice low, in case the goblins outside attempted to overhear in some manner. "They want to make me their Queen." She quietly reported. "Jareth's locked in a birdcage. I don't know what they want to do with you."

Stave slowly nodded.

"I...I'm scaring myself, Stave." Zahra then admitted, somewhat fearfully. "I think I'm starting to _like_ all this."

Stave tilted his head to the side.

"The coronation's tonight. I...don't know what happened to the others." Zahra quietly continued. "I'm trying to hold out, but...sometimes, I just feel like I'm on autopilot. I don't want to lose control."

The Iron Shadow agent made no visible gesture at these words. His human eyes continued to stare down upon the little goblin that had once been a human woman.

"I'm gonna try and get your blade off of him, Stave. Somehow." She then noted. "But...I'll only do this on one condition. And you can't lie to me."

Stave's head tilted curiously once again.

"You told me I could still find this...secret door." Zahra remarked. "Please, y...you have to tell me...what I'm looking f..."

A sound then came from the mask, as if Stave was trying to say something. It was terribly difficult for the fallen agent to be heard, however. He was being deprived of food and water, and his voice sounded very weak and quite hoarse.

Zahra frowned, stepping closer to the chained agent. Once again, the sound emerged from his mouth. "Wwwiii..."

Zahra was now on the tips of her goblin toes, trying to get as close as possible to make out what he was trying to say.

It would be one last strain on the agent's endurance before he would pass out, but after everything the champion of the labyrinth had been through, Stave judged her worth one last gasp before the dissolve into unconsciousness.

"Wig." Stave hissed, as audibly as he could.

His head then drooped down, and his limbs went limp.

Zahra just stared at Stave's unconscious body for a long and quiet moment as she tried to comprehend what had been revealed to her.

The secret door was...a _wig?_

Zahra was of course aware of the golden rule of the labyrinth...that nothing was what it seemed...but this threw her. How could a _wig_ be a secret door?

Zahra was quiet and emotionless as she had Hax lead her back to her subterranean quarters. Flavia, and her five other servants, awaited her arrival. She was apparently to be re-dressed in a much more regal goblin gown in preparation for the coronation. Zahra heard heavy hoof-falls outside, and she surmised that the Horned One himself was to be her escort. She heard Hax speaking to the minotaur as well, implying that they were both going to keep her safe in her journey to the coronation area, which she imagined was going to be at the balcony area.

Zahra was dressed in another impressive-looking gown, although this one was mostly dark velvet with bright red features. Her hair remained in the topknot, but the braid had been loosened, after which her hair was rearranged into a series of smaller braids, the twisted lines of hair decorated by colored beads.

Zahra had to admit, the overall look was both eye-catching and wicked at the same time. Wicked or not, however, she felt entirely regal.

The coronation proved to be a solemn affair, and the birdcage had been hung in a manner that forced its occupant…Jareth…to watch every minute of it. Goblins in Jareth's menagerie that were in attendance were uncommonly quiet as an emotionless Zahra stepped through the path that was revealed to the green-skinned goblin. She was surprised that this ceremony was taking place within the subterranean sections where the rebel movement sheltered themselves from the main castle grounds above. If she were effectively succeeding Jareth, Zahra figured it should be a spectacle for all within the outside sections of the labyrinth to see.

Or, perhaps, they just preferred their royal exercises to be performed, literally, in underground environments. Either way, Zahra stepped forward towards a dais that had been arranged on the floorspace below the balcony area, and the Horned One stood ready there, holding a golden crown in his large, brown-furred hands.

A figure in robes standing next to the minotaur, however, began speaking in a tongue completely alien to Zahra's ears. The native goblin language, perhaps? She was surprised that the enchantment that had turned her into a goblin didn't give her the grace of being able to understand the native language. Since, however, she was not called upon to make any statements during the ceremony thus far, she just went with it, keeping her face as straight as possible.

And she also wondered how she was going to get the Iron Winter Blade off of the minotaur as the gray-robed goblin continued to natter in his exotic-tongued babble.

After a moment when the robed goblin went silent, the Horned One handed him the glimmering, jeweled crown, and the goblin stepped right in front of Zahra.

At the same time, Zahra's lead servant, Flavia, hurried up to stand behind her Mistress, standing to her right, prepared to help interpret for her.

The robed goblin looked Zahra right in her eyes and spoke directly to her. "Khazhe khih zukhakh-tu, bryagzhe."

Flavia whispered the translation gently into Zahra's ear. "Repeat after me, please."

The robed goblin spoke slowly, staring into Zahra's eyes. "Brorikh beylih drahmuun…"

Zahra repeated carefully. "B..Brorikh beylih drahmuun…"

"…keyazh dulaizhe sulamieh…" The robed goblin slowly continued.

Zahra's intonations still sounded unsure. "…keyazh dulaizhe sulamieh…"

"…propimuul pary-pare for the rulership of all goblinkind within the domain I now inherit…" The robed goblin's native tongue suddenly, unexpectedly, shifted to english, although his mouth still moved differently from the words.

Zahra found herself repeating the same, with her own mouth now speaking in the full goblin tongue, although the words could be heard in full english. "…within the domain I now inherit…"

It seemed entirely fascinating to her. She surmised that the words spoken by this robed goblin were the intonations of a spell, for she began to feel weird upon her repeating them in the exact pronounciation. It was both terrifying and fascinating all at once.

The robed goblin continued. "…upon the incapacitation of kingly rule, may I assume control and influence over the goblin realm of the labyrinth in his stead, for as long a period as is necessary, even if it is to the end of natural time."

Zahra swallowed hard, but repeated every word. Flavia, satisfied that Zahra could continue on her own, stepped back to her place in the goblin crowd.

The robed goblin now raised the crown aloft over Zahra's head. "Thy goblin come, thy kingdom won…" He now lowered and settled it snugly upon Zahra's head. "…thy whim be done."

Zahra closed her eyes as she felt the crown come upon her head. "Face thy subjects." The robed goblin instructed.

The crowned goblin turned slowly to the crowds observing the coronation ceremony. The robed goblin then called out again, his tone now harsh. "BOW! BOW UNTO ZAHRA, YOUR GOBLIN QUEEN! BOW!"

A sea of misshapen faces lowered obediently to the ground under Zahra's emotionless expression. Each and every one of the goblins in attendance…no matter how nasty-looking, no matter how indignant they looked…were bowing to their new Queen. In her peripheral view, she noticed that the Horned One even took a knee, and lowered his head reverently.

She then heard the hoof-falls of the minotaur as he rose up, and Hax…who was also up at the dais…spoke low and quiet as he and the Horned One stepped past her. "Follow us."

Zahra complied, keeping careful pace. All heads stayed bowed as the new Goblin Queen made her way to the area's exit. She followed them both up to the main castle grounds, and led her to where she figured they would bring her.

When she stepped back into Jareth's private quarters, the double doors closed behind her. She then heard Hax and the minotaur step away on the other side of them.

She stayed perfectly still for a good long moment, struggling to comprehend the die that had just been cast. She had officially inherited the labyrinth, and in so doing, she had even inherited the native language of the goblins. She could now speak both in full english, and in the native goblin tongue…but whenever she spoke the latter, she would hear the words as if she spoke english.

She slowly stepped to the room's large mirror yet again, staring upon herself and her regal gown, and upon the ornate crown she had been given.

And in that moment, she now wondered if this grand gesture was, in itself, part of a grand scheme. One perhaps perpetuated by the Horned One. She knew she had to be _very _careful now with her pose. Any notion of being wickedly submissive could cost her dearly. She figured that any more "gifts" could sabotage her in some terrible way.

She even wondered if this Angaron, or even Vestrie, was behind it all.

The double doors once again opened, and Hagatha stepped in bearing a full meal, which she placed on a nearby table. She never looked upon Zahra, always keeping her head bowed. She then turned back to the double doors and left without saying a single word.

The smell of delicious meats filled Zahra's wide nostrils, and she lifted the dome covering them. As before, they had been cut into wide strips so she could grab one and stuff it into her mouth. Juices ran down the corners of her lips as she chewed upon the first warm slice of meat she gathered into her mouth.

She reminisced as she ate. She chose not to touch the goblin brew this time, thinking about her last encounter with Jareth as she glanced around his private chambers, and the double bed. She wondered why he couldn't be entertained by some of her better memories through that 'movie' he showed…

Zahra blinked in recognition. If Jareth, for the moment, was no longer around…

Swallowing her meats, the new Goblin Queen kicked open the double doors and dashed out of the room, holding the crown on her head as she ran. She immediately went to the room where Jareth took her to see her past memories, wondering if she could use the obviously magical curtains to look into the past of the fallen Goblin King.

There were, after all, questions that needed answers.

When she came upon the chamber, passing all the odd trinkets she didn't dare touch, she saw that the Tapestries had been changed. She remembered them being blue when Jareth played out the bad childhood memory in the life of Sarah Williams.

They were now a lavender color, and had different designs and sigils all over them.

She slammed the door to the chamber shut, and sat in the same bench area where Jareth had placed himself. With the curtains already parted, she figured she could just go ahead and call forth the images she wanted.

She remembered how the images were summoned. It was an open statement. Then the lights would go down, and the images would begin to materialize.

"Show me Jareth." Zahra called out.

The lights slowly died, and the wall between the open tapestry space began to glow with a soft white light. Images then came into focus.

The first image that played before the goblin's eyes was her last encounter with Jareth, when he started acting strangely...and then dismissed his goblin prize without explanation.

Remembering how the Goblin King manipulated the images, Zahra waved her hand in an arc, from left to right, in front of the images, and they sped past in a rewind effect.

The image stopped at the moment in the Relativity Room, during her first run in the labyrinth, when Jareth came up in front of Sarah Williams from beneath the floor, moments before she spoke the words that banished him, and freed both her and Toby from the labyrinth.

"Stop! Wait! Look, Sarah! Look what I'm offering!" The Jareth image then held up his crystal. "Your dreams!"

Zahra couldn't help but ponder on this statement as the images continued to play. She was back in Jareth's world, which was certainly a dream world despite all the perils of the labyrinth...but she could hardly have anticipated the things that happened to her this time around. She wasn't even _human_ anymore. Jareth had apparently been overthrown, and she had been separated from her friends. She dimly recalled the words of the letter she found taped to Lancelot. The one that warned that she would be found, judged, and punished. The one that mentioned "his salvation" without being more specific.

It seemed logical that it referred to Jareth, but why would a powerful, alluring cad like Jareth need saving? Was this defeat of the Goblin King magically foreseen?

Zahra returned her attention to the screen, and saw Jareth returning to his labyrinth domain following his scrutiny of Sarah's homebound victory celebration. He had settled into his throne, ignoring all of his goblins, his face a veritable void. He looked empty. Distraught. He didn't speak a single word for an ever-lengthening moment.

No doubt his experience with Sarah, despite all his menace, affected him pretty deeply.

But Zahra wanted to see the Goblin King's life _before _he took Toby. She especially wanted to see any moments he shared with the Lady Vestrie.

Zahra's goblin hand waved at the screen, and the images cycled backwards in a stream of rushing streaks.

The moving images settled at a ballroom dance. It was the very same ballroom environment where Sarah Williams had met the Lady Vestrie. She recognized every inch of it.

When Jareth arrived, all eyes turned to him. The ladies in the room, no doubt, lingered their gazes upon the handsome Goblin King as he stepped through the invited guests, giving a courteous nod to each of them as he progressed towards the ballroom party's waiting hostess.

And what a vision of breathtaking beauty the Lady Vestrie was, practically slowing even the steps of the Goblin King in his approach. She spread her arms wide, clad in an unbelievably gorgeous and flowery ballroom gown which, Zahra noted, had similarity to the one she found herself wearing in Jareth's peach-wrought ballroom vision.

They finally closed the gap between them, and they locked in a warm embrace. "Welcome, my Prince." Vestrie cooed.

Jareth gazed into the Sidhe noblewoman's eyes, an affectionate smile on his face. "Haven't been diverting your affections again, have you? You know how much I hate that." He intoned warily.

"Tut, tut, my dear Jareth. My eyes may wander from time to time, darling..." She pressed her forehead against Jareth's romantically. "...but my heart shall always, truly, be aflutter for you, and you alone."

"Despite your lingering association with Angaron." Jareth calmly reminded. "Is he not your handsome Prince?"

"Oh, you know I'm just an _object _to him." Vestrie irritably noted. "A means to another boring political end." Vestrie then held Jareth in a tighter embrace, sighing out affectionately. "You remind me of what true love _should_ be all about, my handsome rogue."

They continued to move rhythmically to the melodies being played during the party as they spoke, most of the other guests gazing enviously upon them as Zahra watched the image continue.

"Besides...it's so much more _adventurous _carousing behind that incorrigible opportunist's back." Vestrie then reasoned.

"As it was when we engaged in our little...caper?" Jareth cooed.

"Oh, yes..." Vestrie tilted her head to the side, angling her head forward to bring her lips close to those of the Goblin King. "...yes...how wondrous that was...skulking through shadows...around guards...and then rushing wildly through the plains, easily outrunning our pursuers on the backs of unicorns..." Her lips came closer to his. "...a moment in time I shall never forget..."

"Only once in a lifetime, my dear." Jareth gently cooed. "And though it may burn me to place my lips against your own..." The Goblin King's hand stroked and rubbed at the back of Vestrie's beautiful blond hair. "...it does thrill me to live..." His lips were now an inch from hers. "...dangerously..."

Their lips then connected. Their kiss was long, and passionate.

As Zahra watched, they remained together for the rest of Jareth's time at the ballroom, and often either in Vestrie's arms, or once again kissing each other deeply.

Zahra's heart sank. This was before Jareth had even met Sarah Williams. Was this Sidhe noblewoman unquestionably the object of the Goblin King's true affections?

She watched them both spend a private moment giggling over shared fae wine, and of all the babble she deemed meaningless, one statement Vestrie made caught Zahra's attention.

"I think I shall mark a mortal, someday, in your honor, Goblin King."

The green-skinned goblin, who had once been Sarah Williams, hung her head.

Another moment in the series of visions, however, caught her ear...this one far more significant...and when she heard it, she had to replay it.

Jareth was with Vestrie, of course, and sitting in the same terrace...alone...with the Sidhe noblewoman. A thoughtful look was on the Goblin King's face as she stared into Vestrie's eyes.

"Do you...like what you see, Vestrie?" He began, gesturing to his face. "Is...this...what you fell in love with?"

Zahra remembered those words. Jareth had asked her the very same question.

_Every word of it._

She craned her head forward, anxious to hear the answer from Vestrie's lips.

Vestrie first stroked gently at Jareth's cheek. "You, my dear, are more of a beautiful vision than I ever could see in those...disgusting little brats who call you their King."

Jareth blinked. "They're not _all _bad, darling. Some of them are actually quite endearing."

Vestrie looked incredulously to the Goblin King. "You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you? Jareth...you told me yourself. You _hate _those...those misshapen snitlings." Her hand stroked at strands of Jareth's hair. "You're far beyond that now, beloved. Flaunt it, dear. For me."

Jareth sighed at this. "I...suppose you're right..."

Zahra found herself whispering. "No...no...she's _wrong_, Jareth..."

Jareth, however, re-entered Vestrie's arms and placed his forehead against Vestrie's, his tone entirely dismissive. "...yes, you're right...forget I said anything, darling. I...I'm babbling."

Vestrie smiled. "I'll just have to shut your mouth then."

Their lips once again locked passionately...

...and, staring at this lingering image, Zahra had reached the limit of her endurance of their affections. A flame within her grew considerably, and her expression soured. Wanting to abandon this image, she angrily whipped a clawed green hand in the opposite direction, the images streaking _forward _now.

The image now settled upon another moment between Vestrie and Jareth. Goblins were all around them, and they were once again in each other's arms.

"Honestly…how could you ever let a mere human get the best of you?" Vestrie asked, pulling a green grape from a nearby plate of fruits and hovering it in front of Jareth's mouth.

"Beginner's luck." Jareth responded, angling his head forward to bite upon the grape as Vestrie released it.

Zahra smirked at this.

"And have you ever wondered what happened to the so-called 'champion of the labyrinth'?" Vestrie inquired.

Jareth shook his head as he chewed upon the grape, and then swallowed it. "Old news. She won her little brat fair and square. I'd rather just leave her be."

"And pretend it never happened." Vestrie mused aloud.

Jareth then fixed his eyes on Vestrie's. "Why do you ask? Is that a twinge of jealousy in your velvety voice, dear?"

"Put yourself in my place, Jareth." Vestrie noted. "A Seelie Princess falls in love with an Unseelie Goblin King, forcing us to sneak around behind the backs of the Courts and have a little adventure or two in so doing. My father gets suspicious, we have to temporarily stay away from each other for awhile. What does the lonely Goblin King do with his time? He toys with a snippy mortal's contempt for her baby brother, and she becomes champion of your little labyrinth."

Jareth shrugged. "I thought Toby would make a good goblin."

"And yet, you were feeling so heartbroken when she left you." Vestrie continued. "Very unusual behavior for an unseelie. Have you so suddenly forgotten the meaning of the word…revenge?"

"I have no need for revenge." Jareth responded. "Last I have seen, her mortal life has become rather decrepit."

A tear trickled down Zahra's eye.

"She is an empty shell without me." Jareth then coldly added.

At the apex of her building fury, Zahra's four-fingered hands balled into tight fists. "_STOOOOP!_" She then screamed.

The image died, and the lights in the room returned.

The anger on Zahra's face, however, remained. She shook with the resentment she was now feeling for Jareth.

She wanted to hurt him just as badly. To lash out. To vent her frustrations.

Zahra angrily stepped out of the Tapestry room and headed for Jareth's throne, which was now, technically, hers. She figured it would be a bit oversized for her goblin form, but it didn't matter to her. As she was now the Queen, she needed to act like one.

She needed to, more or less, _be_ Jareth.

Or at least, her own version of the Goblin King.

One that would view her fellow goblins not as miserable wretches that were barely tolerated, but as kindred spirits deserving of her respect.

She figured it would help, however, to find out a little more about the goblins beyond what she already knew about them. That required talking to someone who had a considerable degree of knowledge.

When she finally reached the throne, she saw that a brand new one had been installed. One that was sized to be able to accommodate the new Goblin Queen. Zahra's head servant, Flavia, was busy wiping the throne down when the new Queen entered the room. Goblins in the area dropped down in reverence when they spotted her.

Zahra ignored them all, and just went right into the seat space of the throne, still fuming over what she had seen in the Tapestry Room. She remained quiet for a long moment.

Flavia stepped back up to her, presenting her with another jug of the goblin brew, but Zahra's brow furrowed. "Don't we drink something _other _than this?"

"My apologies, Your Highness." Flavia calmly noted. "Shall I provide you with water, then?"

Zahra nodded. "That will be fine."

Flavia disappeared into one of the side chambers of the throne room. Groups of goblins gibbered and wandered into and out of the room, always presenting their new Queen with a bow of respect before proceeding with their business. One of the goblins that was a part of one such group had something very familiar upon the top of his shaggy-haired head.

"YOU there!" Zahra growled. "Come before me."

The goblins in the room went quiet, and the indicated goblin stepped forward towards the Goblin Queen, who was now on her feet in front of him.

Glowering on this goblin, Zahra pointed a clawed finger to his hat, which had a long-necked bird's head upon it. The bird seemed to be murmuring, and the Queen saw that the bird's beak had been taped shut. "Where did you get that?" Zahra snapped.

The goblin answered in a dopey-sounding voice. "Uhhh...we got it off some old guy we hauled in two days ago."

Zahra stepped right up to this goblin now, her eyes narrowed. "Take me to him." She menacingly intoned.

The goblin tilted his head.

"NOW!" Zahra then barked.

* * *

Angaron poured his magical energies into the black strap of leather he had placed before him, another important item he was imbuing with his devious spellwork.

The strap had been adorned with a pattern of small, but beautiful diamonds, and had an additional attachment of layered jewelry hanging down from it. It was quite attractive to the naked eye, and it certainly offset the ominous nature of the black leather strap.

And all Angaron needed to do was fasten this strap around the new Goblin Queen's neck.

He had enchanted the jeweled collar to subliminally saturate the goblin's head...Zahra's, specifically...with any and all manner of submissive thoughts. Pleasure. Obedience. Compliance. Contentment. Sweetness. These mannerisms would only become evident whenever the person who fastened the collar around Zahra's neck was in her presence.

He figured he'd present it as a royal gift. Proclaim it to be a necklace of rulership. A gesture of good faith from an Unseelie Lord. Designed to magnify Zahra's presence to nearly godlike levels.

And then, once the collar was fastened, the Horned One would have the little snitling literally licking upon his hooves once again, whether she wanted to or not.

That did, after all, appeal to him...


	29. Chapter 29: The Queen's Speech

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wanted to slip a little open note here to Kypriothe...**

**I have looked over your concern, and have noted that I made ****_one_**** error based on your observation(which was along the lines of why characters in the story were still referring to Zahra as Sarah Williams following her transformation). I made that fix(it was in the chapter "The Horned One"), and I do thank you for that! :)**

**If there were other instances, I should note that those mentions were outside of actual character acknowledgement, and were placed more for reader awareness than those of the characters of the story(ie: calling her Sarah in reference to her human life as opposed to her goblin life as Zahra). Further, it should also be noted that the High Chamberlain's enchantment permanently altered all knowledge of her identity alone. It didn't erase any past memories of what Zahra used to be, so as a matter of example, Hoggle will certainly remember his ****_experiences_**** alongside Sarah Williams, but he can no longer remember her human name. Only that she is now called Zahra.**

**Again, though...my thanks for the heads-up. :)**

* * *

Zahra had Hax, and one of the goblins of his own nasty-looking entourage, join her in the exodus out of the Castle, flying over the labyrinth domain using the new Goblin Queen's crystals, soaring over to where the person the bird hat was stolen from was located, following Hax's directions under threat of being dropped to the ground far below.

The goblin group settled harmlessly to the ground, not too far from the venerable old creature's location. The green-skinned, newly-ordained monarch, who was carrying a large leather sack, then hurried over to where the creature...the Wiseman...had settled himself.

Zahra remembered that this was the exact same place where she remembered meeting him twenty years ago. The only difference was that he no longer had a hat.

He also looked significantly older, and when they saw him, he could be heard snoring loudly.

Without the bird on top of his head, a bald spot could be seen as well. Zahra had imagined that the bird on his head was actually part of his head, and if this was so, she wondered what could have happened. If the bird wasn't a part of the Wiseman's head, a spell must have been cast.

She had, however, more pressing concerns on her mind. Zahra turned to Hax and his goblin comrade. "I need to be alone with him. Stand guard, _behave yourselves. _And don't you dare try to listen in."

Hax snorted in amusement, but the two black-armored goblins nevertheless complied, keeping enough of a distance to be able to see her, yet far enough to stay out of earshot.

Zahra didn't trust either one of them, however, and she decided to pull a crystal, dropping it to the ground with the intent of generating an invisible dome of silence that would make both Zahra and the Wiseman unheard by anyone other than themselves.

The little goblin stepped up to the slumbering Wiseman, and gave his left leg a poke, hoping to wake him up.

No effect. The Wiseman continued to slumber deeply.

Zahra sighed. She tried giving the Wiseman's leg a slap.

No effect.

Zahra frowned. "HEY!" She yelled.

The Wiseman's eyes finally fluttered to life, although they were still heavy-lidded. His old head began to move around, looking for the source of the voice. When he spoke, his voice sounded weak and strained. "Who...who's that...?"

Zahra stepped back far enough for the Wiseman to hopefully be able to see her. "Down here."

The bald Wiseman groaned as he craned his head forward, peering over to the source of the voice...and in the haze of his vision, he saw a small, green-skinned creature in nice-looking robes. The face, however, was hazy, but he at least surmised this to be a goblin.

"Mmmm...come to steal more from me, eh?" the Wiseman weakly remarked.

"I'm not here to steal anything. I...I wanted to..."

"I know...who you were." the Wiseman then revealed, speaking slowly with each breath. "I shun goblins...for what they have done to me...they have stolen from me...they have tormented me...but, in your case...I...will make an exception. What...name...were you given?"

The new Goblin Queen looked down thoughtfully. "Zahra. I...suppose you know they made me their Queen."

"Yes." the Wiseman confirmed. "I...am not surprised. You must feel...awkward...to be part of something you were not...born into. Shall I...tell you...something about goblins?"

Zahra surmised how potentially helpful this could be. "I...I would like that."

"Then know this, Goblin Queen." The Wiseman began. "The goblin race...were always a whimsical lot. But...at the same time...reckless and...often dangerous. In the ancient times...among the fae folk...before there were Seelie...and Unseelie...the Sidhe were often subject...to their mischief."

"And the Sidhe were not amused." Zahra surmised aloud.

"At first...they were tolerant." The Wiseman explained. "But soon...the Sidhe found them...dangerous. Even destructive. The goblins...didn't care either way. Their mischief...was their pride. It wore...on the patience...of the Sidhe."

"Was there anything about the goblins that interested the Sidhe?" Zahra asked.

"Their tinkering skills...crude, but effective...were admired by the Sidhe. They were...quite clandestine...in nature...as well. There is a saying...in your world. 'These walls...have ears.' In the worlds...of the Seelie...and Unseelie...it would be a foregone conclusion...that those walls were created...by goblins."

"Are there Seelie goblins?" Zahra then asked.

"Never." the Wiseman replied. "The social distinctions...of the Seelie and Unseelie...were divided along moral potential. The goblins...were deemed far too...reckless...and dangerous...to be anything other...than Unseelie. The land...this land...was a gesture of grace...from the Seelie. Where only undesirables…those shunned by Seelie…are made to dwell. Where Seelie feared to tread."

"And Jareth?"

The Wiseman was hesitant in his answer, but it came. "Brilliant. Deceptive. Dangerous. Romantic. The perfect Goblin King."

"But...is he...is he a goblin?"

The Wiseman's head nodded forward, and it looked as if he was about to lapse into another nap. She dreaded hearing the sound of snoring, but...

"No."

Zahra frowned. "Then how can he be..."

"For as long...as he hides...behind Vanity, he...can never...be a goblin." His voice was beginning to sound weary now, and Zahra figured he was on the verge of passing out. "That...is why...they will like you. You...don't...use...a...w..."

The Wiseman's head then drooped down, his eyes closed. He then began to snore.

Zahra caught every word of his last statement, and she was able to piece it together. The nature of the secret door, and the mystery behind Jareth, astonishing and outrageous as it was.

From Stave came the basis of her theories. The secret door was a wig, as crazy as it sounded.

Until she heard the Wiseman's words. Particularly the last, unfinished part.

From this, Zahra surmised that Jareth _was _a goblin, and he was using a magic item to hide behind an image other than that of a goblin, perhaps out of envy for the Sidhe.

And that magic item was a wig.

Vanity was, perhaps, the name given to the item.

The only way she could possibly prove herself right was to have Jareth freed, and then confront him on these claims…but for the moment, she was content to reward the Wiseman for his information.

From her large sack, she pulled the very same bird hat that had been taken from him. The bird murmured when Zahra grabbed it. Floating behind the old creature's head, she settled the hat back upon the top of his head, after which the Goblin Queen carefully pulled the binding from the bird head's beak.

Once the bird noticed it was back on the Wiseman's head, its beak opened in surprise…but it then heard Zahra let out a shushing noise.

"He's sleeping." Zahra quietly hissed.

The bird head nodded. "Gracias, duende. Gracias!" It then gratefully whispered. "Información…free of charge! One time only!" The head looked down on the sleeping Wiseman. "Okay?"

"Okay." The Wiseman quietly replied.

"Alright?" spoke the bird.

"Alright." The Wiseman again replied.

Zahra walked away smiling. "Gracias." She whispered back.

"De nada." The now-smiling Wiseman weakly acknowledged.

Loud growling, however, was then heard ahead of where Zahra was, and the squealing of a very young female voice could also be heard. A crystal in her four-fingered hand, Zahra headed over to the source of the growling and squealing.

She soon discovered that Hax and his goblin companion had gotten hold of a sweet-looking little girl who had the ears of a Sidhe. She remembered this little girl from her time spent as a unicorn.

She was part of Vestrie's entourage.

She was, technically, the enemy in her eyes.

Hax had her mouth tightly gagged, and she groaned and squealed against bonds that were being fastened to her wrists. The other goblin was helping him hold her down.

"Well, well, well." Zahra slowly stepped into sight. "Who do we have _here?_"

Hax grinned, looking up at Zahra. "A spy for the Seelie, my Queen. We caught her trying to slip past us."

"Ahhh...and I happen to know that she's one of Vestrie's little sweethearts." Zahra's tone was icy now as she stepped in front of the fragrant-smelling Sidhe girl who was held up before the new Goblin Queen. "Helps tend to that blond harlot's chariot steeds."

The Sidhe girl...Cerenede...whimpered pleadingly. She had finally found the beautiful human, but not in a manner she expected.

Zahra stared contemptuously to the girl. "Are you alone, little Sidhe?" She asked, her tone quite menacing.

Cerenede shook her head slowly, fear clearly evident in her eyes.

"No, no. Of course not." Zahra mused. "A Seelie girl in the labyrinth...all by herself...wouldn't _last_ very long, would she?" The new Goblin Queen then stepped slowly away from the Sidhe girl, silently imparting her mentalized will to the magic crystal in her hand. "If I were in your situation, little one...I'd be _very _afraid of what would happen to me."

Zahra hoped she was right in her suspicion as to why the Sidhe girl was here, and that her impending captivity would prove beneficial to the Goblin Queen's plan.

If she wasn't, she could at least hope that the capture of the little girl would attract the attention of Vestrie. Twice, that Sidhe noblewoman wanted to make a steed of the human she used to be.

Zahra now felt compelled to contemplate revenge.

"The Sidhe have oppressed our people for too long, little girl." Zahra menacingly remarked. "Made us feel like lower forms of life. Like…insignificant dogs! Well...you should know something about me, my little pet."

She then flashed a shark-toothed grin to the Sidhe girl. "I _like_ dogs!"

Zahra then hurled the crystal right at Cerenede, the magic artifact forming a black leather strap, which instantaneously wrapped around the little girl's neck once the crystal touched her unblemished neck. The Sidhe girl's eyes boggled in horror.

Zahra then grinned wickedly as she slowly walked up to Cerenede. "Now let's see how much that strumpet of a noblewoman _truly_ cares for her little servants."

She hoped one crystal…her second one…would be enough to carry them all back up towards the hovering castle.

Thankfully, her entire entourage...including her new captive...went airborne, heading slowly towards the skybound stronghold.

Fortunately, Ludo caught sight of the entourage as he searched for the Sidhe girl. By the time he spotted them, they were well out of earshot.

Horrified, the Rock Troll tromped back hurriedly to tell the others.

* * *

After everything Zahra had learned, she couldn't help but feel sympathetic for her fellow goblin brethren. For the fact that they were oppressed. For the fact that they were practically forced into a single stretch of land. It occurred to her that a bit of whimsy wasn't always a bad thing, and she even found herself contemplating some whimsy of her own.

She was starting to forget any notion of being scared...being resistant...of what she was becoming.

She was starting to feel the goblin pride. The goblin in her was quickly taking hold, and she seemed to be growing frightfully accustomed to its taste.

She was starting to understand that if this was what the Sidhe had wanted her to be, just because she happened to have a dangerous weapon upon her that she didn't even _use_, she might as well let go and wear her shape as well as she could.

Such were her thoughts as she composed her first speech as the new ruler of the goblins. The words came surprisingly easy. She began to anticipate the cheers and the adulation that could result from such a speech.

She very much wanted the full acceptance of her beloved goblins. She practically licked around her lips in anticipation of the moment when she was to deliver the words she was writing.

She practiced them, over and over, when she felt that the speech was just right. Committed every word of it to memory as if she were preparing for the first public performance of a play. She had to nail this oratory, or her competence as the new leader of all goblinkind within the labyrinth would be in doubt.

And that would be potentially catastrophic.

She chose not to appear in any manner of royal dress, as per a point she wanted to make in her speech. She had styled her raven hair in a rough manner of style. Not at all fancy. The outfit she chose to wear also reflected this approach.

When it was time to finally address her subjects publicly for the first time since her coronation, she found herself flanked by the Horned One himself to her right, and Hax to her left.

Stepping up a small set of stairs leading to the edge of the balcony...this time using the one in Jareth's private quarters, so she could speak openly to all of her goblins, not just the subterranean ones...she heard the chanting of her name once more, issuing forth from a veritable sea of goblins down below.

Zahra had a pair of goblin guards standing near the Horned One and Hax, those guards given instructions to watch them carefully. The Goblin Queen also had her crystals on her person, both of them shrunk to sizes that she could easily conceal in the pockets of her outfit.

She raised her green-skinned hands in a gesture of silence, her expression solemn. The crowds below slowly went quiet.

"Greetings, my beloved goblins." Zahra began, gazing upon faces she no longer regarded as grotesque or twisted. "When I look upon you all, I do not see a menagerie of miserable wretches. When I regard your pretty faces with a lingered gaze, it is as a mother lovingly regarding her children. All of whom are meant to be equally embraced as my own."

As Zahra expected, there were no reactions. Just complete silence.

"Unlike your _previous _ruler, who _ridiculously_ hid behind a vain deception!" She then added, her tone laced with disgust.

A collective, thunderous howl filled the air below the balcony in appreciation of this sentiment.

"As much as the previous Goblin King, Jareth, could not be bothered to present himself bearing the visage of a goblin, I stand before you now without royal dress, without a lavish hairstyle, without shame! This is my _true _skin, and I wear it with _pride!_"

Another thunderous roar of approval from the goblin masses below. Both the Horned One, and Hax, subtly glanced to one another after hearing this part of her speech.

"As a gesture of honesty, of trust, of fellowship, I have a confession to make to you all. Some of you may already know what I am about to reveal. To the rest, you may very well be surprised."

Hax arched an eyebrow at this. The Horned One was also particularly attentive.

"During the time of his rule, Jareth took children from the world above, and turned them into one of us. Bringing them into our circle so we could raise them as our own. I am not one of those children, yet I was tasked by Jareth to rescue one from such a fate, and I succeeded. I _defeated _the former Goblin King! I _defeated Jareth!_"

Another cry of elation from the crowds below.

"I challenged him again, this time to win my own freedom when one of your own wished me back here." Zahra continued. "If I had won, I would probably have been made to deceive you just as much as Jareth routinely deceived you all with his very presence! I was instead captured, tried, and convicted of an unjust crime! The Seelie _condemned _me, by their perception, to remain among you _as _one of you! I will admit, too. I was afraid. Frightened. But then...when the almighty Horned One presented me to you all as your next great leader..." She gestured to the minotaur at this. "...you showed me your love. Your appreciation. You hoped you had found a goblin who could come before you without pretending to be something other than a goblin. My children...I shall never, ever betray this trust. Nothing will change. Your way of life will never change! Your allegiance to the Unseelie will never change! Your QUEEN will never change!"

Another loud cry of appreciation erupted from the masses below.

Zahra then raised her fists to the sky, looking down upon her subjects with a fierce gaze. "FORGET what I may have been before! I AM ZAHRA! NOW...AND FOREVER...A _GOBLIN!_"

A much louder roar of appreciation went up that was positively deafening. Once again, the chant of Zahra's name, coupled with the banging of weapons, rose up.

But Zahra's hands went up once again, in a plea for silence.

"As your Queen...as _one of you_...you should know that it was through the unjust accusations of a Sidhe that I was made to suffer."

The Horned One found this part interesting. Was she about to declare war on the High Chamb...

"Your Queen, therefore, is proclaiming the Sidhe Lord called _Angaron_ to be a wanted man. If he is found, he is to be brought before me so I may personally deal with him!"

The minotaur's bovine eyes widened at this proclamation, and the grip on his axe tightened in his shocked fury. Hax simply frowned. The Horned One...who, of course, was actually Angaron himself...could do nothing other than make the offering of his "gift" sooner than he had planned.

"Will you do this for your Queen?" She then asked the masses below.

The voices were unanimous. "YES!"

"Will you _fear_ me?"

"YES!" They cried out once more.

"Will you _love_ me?"

"YES!"

"Will you do as I say?"

"YES!"

Zahra then beamed. "If you mean what you say, my dearest goblins…_I __will__ be your slave!_"

The chant rose up once more, with many weapons and tools banged in emphasis. "ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA! ZAH-RA!"

The Horned One, on the other hand, quietly fumed. He wondered…feared, even…that his plot was backfiring on him. He had never imagined Zahra would become this ambitious as a goblin. He certainly didn't expect that she would turn the little wretches against his Sidhe guise! Wasn't her spite reserved for Jareth, and Jareth alone?

Still…he had to keep a cordial face. He had to play the right-hand for as long as it took for him to find an opportunity to slip his 'gift' around the new Goblin Queen's neck.

Once that was done, all worries would evaporate, and the labyrinth would truly be his.

As the masses below continued to chant, Zahra stepped away from the balcony and moved back into the private quarters, Hax and the Horned One moving with her.

"A fine speech, my Queen." The minotaur growled. "Truly, you have united your…"

"The both of you have two days to find the Sidhe Lord, Angaron." Zahra firmly declared. She then turned to the surprised goblin and the minotaur. "I don't want to see either one of you anywhere on the castle grounds until he is found and brought to me alive. Is this understood?"

As much as the minotaur had wanted to break his pose right then and there, he barely held to his patient resolve. "Yes, my Queen."

"Further, I want you to leave the Iron Winter Blade you took from Stave with me." Zahra then remarked. "I don't want to risk your wanting to use it against Angaron if he proves difficult to catch."

The minotaur's eyes narrowed. "I _will_ bring him back alive, my Queen."

"Leave it with me anyway, minotaur." Zahra shot back. "Think of it as incentive. You won't get it back until you give me Angaron. Now be a dear and place it on the bed."

The Horned One fixed a wary gaze upon the Goblin Queen. Hax, in turn, glanced warily upon the minotaur, wondering if he'd suddenly lash out. He slowly moved a hand toward his blade.

The minotaur, however, pulled the Iron Winter Blade from his belt, scabbard and all, and tossed it on the bed.

The Horned One then tromped up to Zahra. "I don't appreciate my hand being _bitten _like this, goblin!"

Hax, however, stepped in front of the Goblin Queen, facing the minotaur with his hand on his blade's grip, preparing to draw. "And _I_ don't appreciate you using that tone with our Queen, _cow._"

The Horned One's eyes now flared with unrestrained fury at this gesture. His right hand's grip on his large axe tightened. It looked like he could strike at any moment as he glowered down on the armored goblin standing between him and the Goblin Queen.

Hax grinned at this, though, and his eyebrow quirked. "Cut me down where I stand if you must, minotaur. All our good Queen has to do is scream loud enough to summon the hordes."

The minotaur's grip loosened.

The massive, bovine head, however, moved right up to the armored goblin's face. "Don't you _ever _call me a cow again, Hax."

"My, oh my." Hax mused through his grin. "What a _moooo_-ving show of weakness."

"STOP!" Zahra angrily cried out. "I need you two working _together!_" She then turned to the Horned One. "You wait outside and cool off while I reprimand this goblin. He clearly had _no right_ to insult you like that!"

With a snort of derision, the Horned One bowed in compliance, and tromped out of the double doors, closing them behind him.

Hax watched him go before turning back to his Queen…

…who grabbed his head and planted her goblin lips upon his, kissing deeply. The armored goblin's eyes boggled with surprise.

Pulling back from the bewildered, black-armored goblin, Zahra kept her gaze, and her tone, as lusty as possible as she spoke alluringly to Hax. "I remember you once asked me if I wanted to, uh…get to know you better. You _did_ say that, didn't you, Hax?"

Hax's expression went entirely lascivious. "Oh yes, my Queen. And believe me…" He pressed his forehead against Zahra's in emphasis, grinning with anticipation. "…I still do."

Zahra, however, kicked him away with a solid foot to his chest, sending the goblin clattering away from her.

"That's good, Hax." Zahra raised a hand, the thumb and index finger brought within an inch of their tips in emphasis. "Because you are _this close_. Get me Angaron, and make sure the Horned One behaves himself. Play your cards right, and I might just want to invite you to my private quarters far more often." She traced a finger along the skin of her exposed cleavage in emphasis of this.

Hax smirked. He had to admit to himself how alluring it was to have a Queen so feisty. "At your service, my Queen." He intoned, bowing low. He then went for the double doors and departed the room, closing them behind him…

…and giving a lascivious wink to his Queen as he did so.

Zahra let out a long and relieved sigh. The Iron Winter Blade was finally hers. She pulled her crystal and examined the weapon, hoping it wasn't any manner of illusion…but it was truly the very same lethal blade.

She couldn't help but wonder how many goblins Stave had killed with it.

He was, after all, in service to the Seelie Court…

* * *

The news came swiftly to the Lady Vestrie, delivered by a small group of goblins that her only remaining servant boy was powerless to prevent from making a mess of her beautiful mansion. It had not been completely wrecked, but it certainly did bear the taint of having been visibly vandalized.

The message, however, had been sent. Cerenede was now a prisoner of the new Goblin Queen, whose name was not mentioned, but it seemed entirely clear to the Sidhe noblewoman exactly who this new Queen was.

She dared not go to the High Chamberlain over this. He could very well find evidence that Vestrie had a hand in Angaron's scheming, and this would shame her in the eyes of the Seelie. She would never recover from the blow. It was bad enough that news had spread of her mansion being vandalized by a small band of obnoxious snitlings.

Her only solace, for the moment, was to hide herself someplace where her Sidhe friends would never think to find her.

Among the Seelie dwarves, a drinking establishment was a lively and raucous haven. Particularly if the establishment was within dwarven territory. Whereas in the worlds above, rabble-rousing and fights and most other kinds of pub-bound rowdiness would be perceived as a clear disturbance of the peace, it was hardly seen as unusual or even criminal to see such things happen in a pub owned and operated by Seelie dwarves. It was simply business as usual.

Vestrie had only been in dwarven company once before, and that was only because Angaron had a transaction to make with a dwarven Lord. Her first offering of dwarven brew had practically been forced upon her. A dare made by this dwarven Lord, whose name was Fjord. The dwarves had threatened to expose her presence among the dwarves to her Sidhe friends, which would have damaged a reputation which, at the time, was flawless. The brew tasted foul when she poured it down and she nearly fainted from its potency.

But she held, and finished the rest in the next tilt.

And she took a second full mug of the stuff after that, much to the surprise of the surrounding dwarves.

This was about ten years ago, and although her mouth spoke of never wanting to touch such "poison" ever again, she had admitted at the time that someday, when she felt like nothing mattered anymore, she'd go back and drown herself in the stuff.

Four empty mugs were in front of Vestrie when the Lord Fjord, who had emptied his first mug in his casual visit, stepped over to her.

"Well! By the almighty axe. The uppity Lady Vestrie herself! Ye've no dares this day, lass!" Fjord mused as he habitually stroked his gray-flecked brown beard. "What brings ye back among the dwarves?"

Half-lidded Sidhe eyes looked up at the curious dwarf, who was clad from head to toe in furs. "Bugger off." Vestrie growled. "An' take thosh poor, defens-lesh annn-malsh offff ya. I'm a…I'mmm a Sheeeel…"

Her head drooped back down.

Fjord frowned at this. The furs were from beasts that had menaced innocents, and were belligerent in nature. The dwarven Lord would never consider slaying any manner of beast that had not proven itself to be a remorseless savage. Most Sidhe knew this about the Lord Fjord, and the mighty dwarf clearly figured Vestrie was getting a bit too deep in dwarven brew.

"Ye've not been 'round these parts fer a good ten years." Fjord filled the seat opposite where the very raggedy-looking, dissheveled-haired Vestrie was kneeling. "This would'na hafta do with ye mate Angaron, aye?"

Vestrie rolled her head to the side to look up at the dwarf. "Nope." She weakly blurted.

Fjord sighed, rising from his seat. He then walked over to lift Vestrie's head up off the table, sitting her back against the wall in the corner of the bar she had chosen to drown herself in. "Deep breaths, lass. Come on."

"I want _another!_" She called out. "Get me a _pint_, dammit!"

"Ye've had…one, two…_four _so far!" A nearby dwarf quickly whispered in Fjord's ear. "SIX?" He incredulously cried out, as a seventh full mug was place before the inebriated Sidhe.

"Oooh! Look!" Vestrie gleefully noted. "Lucky number sheven!" She grabbed the mug by its handle. "Down the hatch with you.."

But Fjord grabbed her drinking arm. "Not so fast, lass. Ye gonna tell me _why_ ye're lookin' ta empty our barrels o' brew some, lest ye _lose_ the right ta drain ye 'lucky number seven' there."

Vestrie's eyes were on the mug, but seeing as how the dwarven Lord's arm was too strong to break free of, she frowned back up to him. "Ffffine."

The dwarf went back to his side, settling into the seat, and placed the pint of dwarven ale on his side, his arms surrounding it like a castle wall while his wide, stern gaze met Vestrie's bleary-eyed stare. When she finally spoke, her voice seemed to weakly ramble.

"I had _everything._" Vestrie began. "I had my handsome Prince…I had my marked human girl…I had two _lovely _unicorns. I had my social standing. I was soooooo happy. I had my Jareth…I had my Jezz-bell…I had my cuuuute little girl Cerenede…I even had the ch…champion…of th' bloody lab-rinth. Now…all gone. Boom. G'bye." Vestrie then leaned forward towards the dwarf. "I accepted that I had lost Aegeas. Never liked that pompous steed. Zahra? She _loved _being a unicorn. _Loved _it, dwarf!" She slammed a hand down at the wooden table in emphasis of this.

Vestrie then collapsed back into her seat. "Then my idiot 'mate', as you called him, comes up with this big, brilliant plan to bring goblins under his control, but I figure…hey! Jareth hates his own goblins! Ang'ron gives me Jareth, Ang'ron gets Jareth's goblins. Problem solved! But _nooooooo_. Jareth starts gettin' all _mooooody_ 'bout his little Zahra. One minute, it's 'I want revenge'. And th' next…th' next…"

Vestrie lapsed into a sob, tears streaming down her eyes, before pathetically blurting out her next lament. "…it's…'_I want Zahra baaaack!_' He SAID this, dwarf! I wanted to be the _only one _in that handsome scoundrel's life! Now it's all a _mess_. I've got _nothing_. All my fault, too." Vestrie then quickly swiped the mug before the Lord Fjord could stop her. She then stared upon the liquor in anticipation, her teardrops falling into the brew. "Only…only _you_ understand me now…Mister Pint…"

Vestrie then poured number seven down her throat. She smiled with satisfaction.

And then completely passed out, her head thudding upon the table in front of her.

Fjord sighed, and then clicked his fingers twice, rising out of his seat as his nearby advisor stepped over with two tough-looking dwarven guards. They then flanked where Vestrie had passed out and stood guard over her.

The advisor looked to Vestrie. "Pint too many, milord?"

"She's had her seven, Praed. Seven mugs of our finest nectar knocks out any Sidhe. Never fails." Fjord noted. "Each mug a willin' lament, too. She's a right broken lass, that one. We'll have the High Chamberlain collect her."

"I'll send him 'round, milord." Praed confirmed, with a compliant bow, before stepping away to do his deed.

The Lord Fjord's curiosity, however, had been stoked by the broken noblewoman's lamentations, and he made a mental note to make inquiries to the arriving Chamberlain.

He also wondered if his old friend, Hoggle, had any involvement in this situation…


	30. Chapter 30 A Tale of Steeds and Deeds

It was her yearning to see Vestrie's new unicorn, who had once been a human, once again that Jezebel had relocated herself...on an obviously risky whim...to the realm of the labyrinth using the portal zone. She knew the Unseelie zone would induce the mild, but unpleasant, aching and agitation that came with a creature of such Seelie purity being in such an impure area. She could understand Aegeas not having such issues, having served as one of the steeds of the Iron Shadow agents. He was no doubt trained to be able to persist for long periods within Unseelie zones.

She began to envy him for that as she continued to look for the portal leading back to Seelie territory.

Her agitation, however, made it difficult, and she feared that at some point, the goblins would come and drag her further into the labyrinth, perhaps in a deliberate attempt to exacerbate her continuing torment.

After days of being able to keep herself out of goblin sight, however, she was finally spotted by a roving band of the small snitlings. With their guttural cries, Jezebel let out a startled whinny and began galloping away from them as fast as she could.

They chased her on the backs of their own armored lupine mounts, cackling and growling threats and taunts as Jezebel continued to dash away from the bullying goblins.

There were far too many of them for her to drive off the goblin band using the alicorn's incapacitating touch. She'd certainly be able to hold off two or three, but the rest of the band would overwhelm her easily. She was not trained to fight effectively, either. Just to pull an often loaded chariot.

It was another thing about Aegeas she begrudgingly admired. Aegeas was a _very _good fighter as a unicorn. Again, no doubt because of his training as a steed of the Iron Shadow group. If only he were here to help her fight off these...

The net dropped down upon Jezebel as she dashed through a ravine. Her goblin pursuers dashed forward to help Jezebel's goblin captors subdue their unicorn prize. Jezebel whinnied and thrashed in her effort to free herself, but the goblin trappers were obviously skilled in keeping their netted quarry incapacitated, manipulating the fallen net in a manner that dragged around the unicorn's entangled limbs.

She began to fear she would never again set her hooves upon Seelie territory ever again as the goblin pursuers stepped over to join the trapper group, staring down menacingly at Jezebel.

"Weeeell." The trapper leader deviously exclaimed. "First a little Sidhe girl, and now a unicorn. Christmas must have come early to the goblins, mates!" The other goblins chuckled and guffawed as they moved to get a closer look at their writhing, whinnying prize.

"Ve geev to Kveen Zahra?" One of the armored goblins asked.

The spoken name caught Jezebel's attention. Was this not the very same person who was changed into a unicorn? The very same unicorn Jezebel had hoped to find?

"We'd bettah make some kinda choice, youse mugs." another goblin mumbled. "Da dogs is gettin' antsy."

The lead goblin trapper rubbed at his pointed chin. "Well...I s'pose she'd appreciate another trophy..."

A cry of surprise came from one of the goblins, and all heads whipped over to where this goblin was standing.

The goblin, however, now looked dazed, and was staggering about. Having dealt with unicorns before, the goblin trapper recognized the condition. An alicorn touched to bare skin.

"WE'RE NOT ALONE, MATES!" He called out, and the rest of the goblins pulled their weapons, warily looking around their respective areas.

The trapper then called over to a goblin watching the wolf steeds. "Set the dogs loose. We'll take _this _one..." he indicated Jezebel. "...and leave the dogs to feast on the other."

Once the reins of the wolves were dropped, the trained wolves dashed away, snarling. They started to approach Jezebel, but a vicious clap from the trapper leader signalled the wolves that they were not to touch this one. When the wolves looked to the goblin, they saw him touch his ugly nose, and then arc the finger out in front of him slowly. The wolves then scattered to begin their attempt to flush out their food as the goblin band began to surround and converge on Jezebel.

Just as the goblins were about to touch the hapless, entangled unicorn, a loud whinny of challenge filled the air, followed by a loud canine yelp. The sight of a pitched wolf came next, the hungry beast hitting the soft ground and tumbling to a dazed halt, its body viciously impacted by the force of a powerful equine kick.

The second unicorn then came into view, bucking like a crazed bronco, intimidating the wolves attempting to get into a position to pounce upon it. When one of the wolves attempted such, the unicorn whipped its head around and grazed its alicorn upon the feral wolf's belly, causing it to crumple to the ground from the incapacitating sensations running through its body.

The unicorn's movements were definitely trained as the muscled equine not only took the battle to the other wolves, but also to goblins that tried to help. A few goblins became the recipients of fierce hoof bludgeonings. Those that were not brutally kicked by the unicorn's hind legs found themselves knocked senseless by a front hoof to the top of their heads. Others were laid out senseless by the touch of the purifying alicorn.

The goblin trapper judged the unicorn far too dangerous to try and defeat. Its movements definitely reflected an offensive training regimen. "PULL THE NET! RELEASE THE UNICORN!" He cried. "RETREEEEAAAT!"

The unaffected, intimidated goblins scrambled to free Jezebel from the net before dashing away from the ravine. She noted one of them crying out to "inform the Queen", assuring Jezebel that her effort to try and find her missing friend would not be a total loss.

Jezebel stayed on her side until she knew the goblin band...and their steeds...were long gone, and then the suffering unicorn brought herself back up to her four hooves. Her savior...the second unicorn, who she immediately recognized by the way the creature fought off her tormentors...clopped slowly up to her.

Conversation between unicorns, of course, was a mental affair. All it took for Jezebel and the second unicorn, Aegeas, to re-establish contact with each other was a harmless rub of their respective alicorns. Their voices were tender as they mentalized their words unto each other.

"Are you all right, Jez?" Aegeas calmly asked, his voice usually bold and proud in tone, but for the moment, tender and serene.

"Jezebel." The recovering unicorn replied. "Why can't you ever call me by my full name?"

Aegeas went quiet, feeling hurt.

Jezebel then whickered apologetically. "I'm fine. More or less." She then replied. "Thank you, Aegeas."

"I...know it's hurting you to be here." Aegeas calmly remarked. "But...why are you here to begin with? Were you led astray?"

"I...I am trying to find someone." Jezebel answered. "A unicorn Vestrie created to replace you."

Aegeas's head tilted curiously to the side. "Created? She didn't transform someone again, did she?"

"This one was apparently of some importance." Jezebel explained. "I remember Jareth's name being mentioned as a relation. One of your Iron Shadow agents freed her from Vestrie's chariot."

"Aren't you hurting, though?" Aegeas asked.

"I'm trying to ignore it." Jezebel replied.

Aegeas hoofed up closer to his former chariot partner. "Do you want to know the secret?"

"No." Jezebel responded. "I just want to go back to the mansion."

"Through the portal to the Seelie lands, I imagine." Aegeas mused. "I could guide you over there safely, but...if you knew how to keep from feeling that throbbing running through your body, don't you think it would make the trip seem like less of a chore?"

"I...think I can put up with it for a little while longer." Jezebel hesitantly admitted.

"Jez...for the distance we have to travel, I think not." Aegeas warned. "I know you."

Jezebel lowered her head with regret. As much as she didn't want to openly admit it, Aegeas was right. She had gone a very, very long way since exiting the portal on the labyrinth side, and in her crazed gallop through the pain-inducing labyrinth environment, she nearly went into a bog of muck with an unbearably horrible scent.

"That's why I want to help you, Jez." Aegeas's tone was a little more yearning now. Far less demanding and haughty, Jezebel noted to herself, compared to the old days when he was unbearable in his near constant self-appraisal.

Jezebel's wary tone softened agreeably. "What's the secret?"

"The self." was Aegeas's answer. "What are you?"

"I am a Seelie unicorn." Jezebel amusedly answered. "What else could I be?"

"Most unicorns think that way...but unlike me, you never stopped thinking like that, Jez."

At first, Jezebel thought Aegeas was showing a relapse of his overbearing pride...but she wondered if, for once, he had a point. This time, she wanted to know what this meant. It helped that Vestrie wasn't around to cloud the issue.

"How do you mean?" Jezebel asked.

"The pain won't immediately go away, but part of the trick is to just think of yourself as a unicorn." Aegeas explained. "You have to stop thinking of yourself as being exclusive to one side of the coin. That's part of the secret."

"But...unicorns take pride in their purity." Jezebel protested. "Some of the most powerful of our breed have become legendary on the basis of being pure."

"Then what are you doing here? In Unseelie territory?" Aegeas asked. "If you were totally pure, you would not even consider setting a single hoof into the labyrinth. I'm not saying pure is bad, but you should know that you're with a Sidhe woman who frequently travels to the labyrinth grounds despite her Seelie allegiances."

Jezebel blinked in consideration of this.

"You should also know that I have heard the same stories about those 'legendary' unicorns. Sadly, a lot of those stories are deliberate fabrications, Jez. I have yet to see a unicorn so perfect."

Jezebel looked hurt. "But..."

"It's not just our breed, Jez. It's a rule that applies to _all _life. Even those creatures that aren't unicorns. Humans. Sidhe. Dwarves. Dragons. Pixies. Even _goblins_." Aegeas reasoned. "There is no such thing as a perfect being. Everyone is fallible. Even a unicorn can stumble and fall, no matter how pure."

Jezebel wanted to be able to counter this. It just seemed preposterous. Unicorns were typically embraced, in the hearts and minds of many in the realm of the Fae, to be the very embodiment of purity.

But somehow, she couldn't.

Because she was _told _all of this. She was raised to believe it.

"But...we can get back up." Jezebel reasoned.

"Of course, Jez." Aegeas confirmed. "Like you just did."

"That's why you left us. Me and Vestrie. Isn't it?" Jezebel asked. "Because she thought she was perfect."

"Not just herself. She wanted _everything _to be perfect. Everything and everyone around her. That's part of the reason a lot of the Sidhe go bad." Aegeas replied. "Thinking like that makes one imbalanced. Once you truly believe all this, you'll find the pain in your body begin to recede."

"Do you feel any pain at all, Aegeas?" She then asked.

"If I do, I've forgotten what it feels like." Aegeas replied. "Maybe...I've grown used to it. It certainly hasn't killed me, and I know for sure it won't kill you."

"Contrary to what Vestrie once told me. How prolonged exposure to the labyrinth can kill a unicorn." Jezebel mused.

"Nonsense." Aegeas confirmed. "I have _slept _within the labyrinth grounds, Jez. I have ran the grounds day in, day out, with Epona on my back, and without."

Jezebel could still feel the ache...but with this knowledge, she was far less nervous about it now.

"How are you feeling now, Jez?"

The recovering unicorn waited for a long moment before she finally mentalized her answer.

"Uneasy." She admitted, dipping her head a little. "I guess...I need a little more time for this to sink in."

"I completely understand." Aegeas replied. "Did you still want to go back?"

After another long moment, she brought her head back up.

"No." She replied. "But...I can't go trotting around these grounds alone. Not after this."

"I guess I'd better stay with you then, eh?" Aegeas noted, boldness back in his tone.

"Sure." Jezebel responded. "Maybe you can teach me a few more things, Aeg."

Aegeas whickered in amusement as the two unicorns trotted away, side by side once more.

It was not long, however, before they both found themselves in an area of the labyrinth that had caught Jezebel's attention. She had the sense that someone she was familiar with had been there.

The alicorn sensed that the presence was very young, and quite sweet-natured. It was a manner of personality that Jezebel was all too familiar with, having had the sweet young Sidhe girl tend to her at the mansion's stables.

Cerenede.

Aegeas followed curiously. Jezebel knew Cerenede required some explanation. Vestrie accepted her as a servant girl not too long after Aegeas abandoned the Sidhe noblewoman.

Fortunately, she was able to convince the skilled unicorn that she was worth pursuing, and rescuing.

Particularly for the fact that she was a healer.

* * *

Sir Didymus and Hoggle stared upon the constructions their goblin ally, Hob, was working on. The sounds of banging tools and cranking gears could still be heard. In their curiosity, the Junk Lady had her junk people give the busy goblin whatever help he needed.

"Well! I must say, it's..." Sir Didymus blinked in his attempted comprehension. "...well, I'm sure it must have _some _function, brother."

"The kid said he could build stuff." Hoggle remarked. "We've gotta trust that he can deliver."

At that moment, Ambrosius came alive with a flurry of barks. He then took off in a direction opposite where Hob continued his work.

"Ambrosius! Attend thy master!" The knight called out. "COME BACK!"

The sheepdog, however, had dashed away far too quickly. Hoggle noted, however, that the dog looked more excited than angry as he wildly barked his way towards what he had sensed.

When Didymus and Hoggle finally caught up to Ambrosius, they both discovered why.

The sheepdog had picked up the scent of his former master, who stood before them both clad in the furs of savage beasts. His dwarven hand gently caressed over the fur of the panting sheepdog he had raised from his days as a puppy.

"Lord..._Fjord?_" Hoggle's eyes widened.

"What art _thou _doing here?" Sir Didymus quite curiously asked. "Is it not..._beneath _thee to, what didst thou call it? 'Waste words with unworthy undesirables'?"

The Lord Fjord closed his eyes in regret. "Aye, me own words...passin' a sting sharper than a serpent's tooth, too. Cannae say I don't deserve it...but at least ye raised Ambrosius well! He'd sooner run from a fresh scent rather than bravely rush up tae meet it when he was just a pup!" The bearded dwarf rubbed at the fur on the sheepdog's head, smiling down as his aged eyes met those of Sir Didymus's loyal mount. "Ye've got a _good _master now, aye? Much better than _I _could have been..."

Hoggle frowned. This didn't sound like the arrogant dwarven Lord he once knew long ago. He sounded a little more humble now, and he wondered if there was something to it. Fjord was never known to be a deceptive sort, either. At least, not to his own dwarven kin, outcast or otherwise.

"Right! Off with ye! Rejoin ye _true _master, there's a good pup!" Fjord exclaimed. Ambrosius then padded loyally back to Didymus, who gave him a few soft pats. Fjord then chuckled in his reminiscence. "Heh, heh...all I ever did was feed 'im. Musta figured I had a scrap or two on me."

Hoggle remained skeptical. "You came down here...all this way...just to see _Ambrosius _again?"

Fjord solemnly shook his head, his eyes never leaving Hoggle's. "I'm here tae see _you_, lad."

Hoggle blinked in surprise, tilting his head curiously.

Fjord then angled his intense gaze to Sir Didymus, and the message was clear.

"Ahh...well, come along now, Ambrosius...um, we'll just...go...check up on, uh...Hob's work..." Sir Didymus reasoned before he and his loyal sheepdog stepped away, leaving the two dwarves to their privacy. Fjord waited until the knight was well out of earshot before he finally spoke up.

"Well, ye did it, Hoggle." Fjord began. "Ye beat me. Ye remember? I boasted ye wouldn't last _ten full years _in the lab'rinth 'fore ye'd come mewlin' back tae us. I'd sooner drop in that stinkin' Bog o' yours than feel proud o' me'self fer that boast."

"I never changed my mind." Hoggle remarked. "You have your crazy little world. I was firm enough to tell you...right to your face...that I didn't want any part of it."

Fjord slowly nodded. "I was so wrapped up in me world. Never imagined a dwarf with no taste for a fresh pint. Preferred gardens tae battlefields...removed his beard rather than nurture it...ye never even wanted tae at least carry a _knife_ on ye!"

Hoggle winced. That last part stung, given what had happened to Zahra, and for the impetus of her fate.

"But then, ye dinnae need any o' that tae lend ye human lass a right good hand in Jareth's first lab-rinth, did ye?" Fjord then reasoned. "Just raw dwarven resourcefulness."

Hoggle crossed his arms in front of him, still skeptical of this approach the dwarven Lord was taking. "Begging your Lordship's pardon...but...is there a _point _to all this?"

Fjord paused, trying to find the right words. "I heard Angaron's up tae no good again. Heard he dealt a hand that changed ye human lass."

Hoggle shook his head and lowered it shamefully. "No. Don't...don't bring that up. Please."

Fjord frowned at this. "Why? Don't ye _care_, Hoggle?"

"OF _COURSE _I CARE!" Hoggle shouted. "She cared more for me than your...your rowdy little _mobs!_" Hoggle tried to hold in the sorrow, but it was too late. "It doesn't do me any good to be reminded that what happened to her..." A tear rolled down Hoggle's eye. "...was _my fault_..."

Fjord's eyes widened significantly at this. "What brought ye tae _that _conclusion?"

Hoggle wiped away the tear, although he felt more coming on. "You already know she had an Iron Winter Blade on her. Where do you think she got it?"

Fjord needed a moment to figure it out...and when he did, he frowned suspiciously. "How did _you _get it?"

"I found it near the remains of a fallen Iron Shadow agent."

"And ye didn't _return _it?" Fjord incredulously asked. "By the almighty axe, lad! Only an Iron Shadow..."

"I _KNOW!_" Hoggle roared. "You want me to say it? You want to hear it? Boost your own little _ego_ again? _Fine!_ I kept that blade because...as you were so fond of observing all those years ago before you, uh, 'had me removed'...I was a _coward! _Well, I got fed up of being one to begin with, but I had this little problem, and his name was _Jareth!_ I thought for _sure _he was gonna stick me into the Bog of Eternal Stench after I helped Zahra..."

"And ye figured ye'd _un-make_ Jareth when next he tried?" Fjord surmised. "Ye'd have been _condemned_, pass or fail!"

Hoggle wiped away fresh tears, lowering his head. "Doesn't...really matter now..."

Fjord needed a moment before he opted to step up to the sullen dwarf. He then placed a hand on Hoggle's shoulder. "Ye know...it's ironic. There's more than a few dwarves who could very well have taken that risk. Being condemned."

"I wouldn't care if you wanted to drag me before the High Chamberlain right now." Hoggle lamented, his head still hung low.

Fjord, however, lifted the sullen dwarf's head up. "That won't happen." The dwarven lord solemnly assured. "Ye're makin' a stand against Angaron, aye?"

Hoggle nodded.

Fjord then placed his hands on Hoggle's shoulders, looking him squarely in the eyes, so that he'd know the dwarven Lord was serious in his inquiry. "Do ye need anythin' from the _dwarves_, Hoggle?"

The former gardener and gatekeeper of the labyrinth was within moments of saying no, but then he remembered. The Seelie didn't know what Angaron had become. They didn't know he was no longer the fae being he appeared to be.

"Aye." Hoggle replied. The word had Fjord arching an eyebrow. He could almost hear the old dwarven brogue in Hoggle's voice when he spoke that word. "You can warn the Seelie that Angaron isn't who he appears."

He then explained the circumstances that led to the Sidhe nobleman forsaking his fae nature in favor of the minotaur he had become. He did not, however, explain the circumstances that had effectively made the minotaur race one of the fae folk. That was far more sensitive information he did not want to entrust to the dwarves, even if it seemed the great dwarven Lord Fjord was actually trying to make amends for the past arrogance that resulted in Hoggle becoming an undesirable.

Fjord needed a moment to take the new information in. It all seemed so crazy, but the dwarven Lord had enough experience in diplomatic affairs to be able to separate truths from fabrications. Nothing that Hoggle had told him reeked of fabrication. This definitely sounded like the kind of scheme Angaron could cook up.

Hoggle, however, knew that knowledge carried a measure of power, and he was not prepared to allow Fjord to step away from this encounter without some form of compensation, and now it was Hoggle's turn to look the dwarven Lord squarely in the eyes. "Now you can do _me _a favor, Fjord. You can wait until all this is over, but I expect my favor to be honored. Whether you want to or not."

Fjord arched an eyebrow. "Oy! Makin' a _demand _of a dwarven Lord, are we?"

Hoggle stepped forward, his face closer to Fjord. "You _owe _me! And not just for what I've told you about Angaron!"

The stare was long and hard, and Hoggle did not flinch for one moment. His conviction was rock solid.

The Lord Fjord, however, willingly softened. Hoggle was indeed the better dwarf, and to say he had grown since the time in which he was banished was a definite understatement.

"Aye, lad." Fjord confirmed. "I do owe ye. Name ye price."

"You won't do it. I have a feeling you won't do it." Hoggle warned. "But I'm challenging you anyway."

Fjord now frowned. He wondered if this was going to be a request to slay some great beast, or perhaps visit this 'Bog of Eternal Stench' he had heard about. It would have surprised him to hear that Hoggle wanted some kind of duel...

"Address the mobs, Fjord." Hoggle began. "Get 'em all together in one big mass, and you tell them all that you were _wrong_ about me."

By virtue of his reaction to this, Fjord would have preferred slaying a beast, visiting the Bog, or even some kind of duel to what Hoggle had proposed. Go before hordes of dwarves, and admit to a failing. A mistake. Explain publicly that he had unjustly condemned a dwarf no one liked for the apparent crime of being entirely different from the enjoyably rowdy norm.

Granted, dwarves were a little more comfortable admitting to imperfections and flaws compared to the Sidhe, but this was dwarven society and Fjord's place within it that was being challenged. Dwarven pride was at the heart of the Hoggle matter. They had called Hoggle's unconventional thinking a potential infection on the hearts and minds of all dwarves. It was to save face that Fjord ultimately acquiesced to their want to banish Hoggle.

Fjord, however, had his reasons for being more agreeable to the condemned dwarf.

The dwarven Lord's initial reaction was one of shock. For a moment, Hoggle thought he'd immediately lapse back into his insufferable ego trip. His better-than-you approach to life. That would ultimately call Fjord on his sympathetic pose and show that the dwarf was incapable of change.

"On me word of honor, Hoggle." Fjord began. "On me blood, me ancestors...on ye'r own blood, ye'r own ancestors...I would _never _agree tae puttin' me lordly pride on the line if I knew I'd be slicin' me own throat."

Hoggle closed his eyes in defeat. The Lord Fjord, truly, could never change.

But the dwarven Lord then grabbed Hoggle by the back of his neck, and pulled him in close, pressing his forehead to Hoggle's, who opened his eyes curiously.

"Until now." Fjord then added. "Pass or fail, brother dwarf. Thy will be done."

* * *

Jezebel and Aegeas listened quietly to the two dwarves making their peace with one another. They had silently hoofed within a few paces of their position, and they were completely outside of their current field of vision.

The unicorns watched them cut open a small wound on their arms using a blade Fjord produced, and they pressed their wounds together as per dwarven tradition. That was of very high significance to the Seelie dwarves. It meant that Fjord would sooner die than break his word of honor.

The wounds were careful cuts on their respective wrists.

"I knew I chose my new mount well." Aegeas mentalized unto Jezebel, his voice tinged with pride.

"If that dwarf has earned the respect of a dwarven Lord like Fjord, he must indeed be special." Jezebel concurred. "I don't think he's as special as Cerenede is to me, though."

"So you've made your decision?" Aegeas mused. "Who you will burden loyally, unto the end of your days?"

"It has to be Cerenede." Jezebel replied. "The only other person I actually considered, over Cerenede, was the Champion of the Labyrinth."

"I know she is the Goblin Queen now, but..."

"I'm sorry, Aeg. I can't." Jezebel interjected. "A dwarf is one thing, but I could never burden a goblin."

Aegeas was about to protest, but he decided to let it go. At least, for the moment. "As you wish, Jez. For the moment, I think it's time I reunited with my brave burden."

* * *

The unicorns hoofed out, both of them nickering in willing betrayal of their presence. Aegeas hoofed quickly over to Hoggle.

"Ahh, _there _you are!" Hoggle remarked. "We were _wondering _where you might have gone!"

Fjord now looked entirely dumbfounded at the sight of Hoggle administering to one of the great, pure unicorns. He didn't even expect to see any such creatures in Unseelie territory! Indeed, he was among those who bought the bogus rumor that prolonged exposure to the labyrinth grounds would be fatal to unicorns.

And yet, here was Hoggle, treating this bright white paragon of goodness as his very own steed.

"Hoggle!" Fjord exclaimed. "Ye actually _ride _upon the back o' that good beast?"

Hoggle shrugged, smiling. "He doesn't seem to mind."


	31. Chapter 31: Just For Your Love

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am no musician, so I couldn't set music to my prose...but a ****_Labyrinth _****story just can't be a ****_Labyrinth _****story unless the Goblin King gets a song. The lyrics you'll read are entirely original, but are not sung to the tune of any existing song in particular. **

**I did, however, imagine Bowie singing it. :)**

* * *

Zahra continued to stare at herself in the mirror of Jareth's private quarters. She had locked Cerenede in a room of the castle that was pleasant and lavish enough to keep her from being too scared, with girlish diversions such as dolls and other such toys to occupy her time with during her captivity. Jareth apparently used the room to hold captive human children wished away by their parents or guardians who were a little older than Toby was when he was taken. Cerenede was a Sidhe, but Zahra figured the little servant girl wouldn't feel too distraught given the nature of the accommodations.

The Goblin Queen made an effort to keep from being too harsh...too wicked...with the young Sidhe. Yes, she was the enemy, but she was still just a girl. Zahra didn't even say a word when she brought Cerenede into the room, and while the Sidhe girl maintained a sullen face, she was still surprisingly silent, offering no protests or screams. Even after the Goblin Queen closed the door...the only way in and out of the room...and engaged the lock.

Near where Zahra was standing was a pedestal, upon which was another flagon of the thick black goblin brew. Flavia had delivered it shortly after Zahra had re-entered Jareth's quarters, and a silver chalice...filled with brew...had been placed next to the flagon.

The flagon was now in the right hand of the Goblin Queen. She had already drained half the chalice's content, feeling the potent brew tingle her green skin and subtly disorient her senses.

She was getting a kick out of the effect the brew was inflicting on her. She knew now why the goblins enjoyed drinking it so much. Before she realized it, the chalice was empty.

Zahra looked to the full flagon. She was so tempted to just walk over and refill the chalice.

She decided to pick the flagon up and pour a deluge of the brew down her throat instead, the excess spillage soaking her clothes and forming a growing puddle of spilled brew where she was standing.

Her vision was considerably hazy now as she stared upon her goblin image again. Her breaths were ragged given the far stronger effect of the goblin brew. Strange shapes and formless blobs began to form in the haze of her vision.

She tried to call out, but she was too short of breath to project her voice. "F...Flavia..." The Goblin Queen then dropped to her knees, unable to resist the urge to let out a couple of light giggles. "...ff...fill...my cup..."

One of the blobs in her vision had formed a shape. A shape very well known to her. The shape was behind her, staring at her wearing that slight frown of his.

It was Jareth.

Zahra walked forward, on her knees, her eyes on the image of the Goblin King, towards the mirror, and practically pressed her goblin face against the reflective surface. Her panting formed a spot of cloudy dampness on the mirror as she glanced at the image of Jareth.

"M...my King...my Prince..." she slowly began. "...look...what you've done...to me..."

The image continued to stare upon the Goblin Queen, never changing his expression. The sharpness of the image occasionally blurred as she stared upon it.

Zahra then giggled in the haze of her inebriation, a shark-toothed grin returning to her face as she stared at the Goblin King's image, running her goblin hands along the dark locks of her long hair.

"Look at me, Jareth..." she then whispered. "...look at me...I'm so _pretty _now." She then looked down at one of her arms, stroking fingers over her green skin, feeling the tingle as she rubbed. "So...so pretty...I...I feel like a little _girl _again..."

Zahra then reached her goblin hand up towards the image of Jareth, which remained motionless, and with the same expression. The image began to look a little hazy now as she reached up to it.

Tears then began to form in the Goblin Queen's eyes.

"I love you, Jareth." She softly spoke. "I...I don't care what I have to be...as long as I...I get...to have you..."

The image of Jareth was now a full blur, which slowly disappeared.

Zahra's face devolved from one of sorrow to utter contempt as she wiped her tears from her face. "Fine. _Go away._" She then growled. "You can't be a proper goblin _anyway_, you _coward!_" She then stared into the eyes of her own reflection, another toothy grin on her face. "Not like _me._" Another wicked laugh followed this admission.

She then looked around for her flagon, but found it empty, and on the ground, its spillage making an even bigger puddle.

"Oops." she gently spoke, spotting her mess.

Through the lingering haze of the brew's effects, a thought occured to her, and she staggered to her feet, picking up the empty flagon. Shaking her head vigorously to try and rid herself of enough of the daze to be able to walk in a specific direction and still be as aware of her surroundings as possible, she carefully stepped towards the double doors of the room.

Emerging from them, the two armored goblins stationed by the doors snapped to attention, startling Zahra a bit, but she then waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah...hail me..." she slurred as she moved carefully towards the nearby staircase.

Taking a careful step at a time, she finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs. She then made her way to the chamber where the Tapestry of Souls was installed. Along the way, she spotted Flavia just as the goblin servant turned her own head towards the Goblin Queen. She rushed up to Zahra, who simply pushed the empty flagon into Flavia's chest.

"Fill 'er up." Zahra murmured, grabbing the handle of the door to the Tapestry room, and then disappearing behind it.

* * *

"There are still no leads regarding the mysterious disappearances of two librarians who were last seen...literally...at the local library. The first of the two to vanish was librarian Sarah Williams, best known for telling children's stories to young patrons at the library on weekends. When it was suspected that her boss...Head Librarian Agatha Caine...played a possible role in the disappearance, the elderly librarian disappeared the very next day. An eyewitness to Sarah's disappearance indicated that quite literally...one minute, she was at the front counter, and the next minute, she was not."

Bethany Ryder finished her pencil sketchings in the time she had before the arrival of the music tutor her parents had hired to train her in piano lessons. She had to stop, however, for she could not help but be intrigued by the TV news story of the disappearances of the two librarians. Many children in the neighborhood were upset or concerned by this news. Bethany, at the age of 17, had paid witness to Sarah's reading of _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_, and found herself entertained by the librarian's recital of the story.

Lifting the drawing pad from her desk surface, she took a look at the unicorn she attempted to replicate from her imagination. The creature was in mid-gallop, turning its head towards the viewer, magic twinkles all over the magnificently-rendered creature. Since she had begun nurturing her artistic talent at the age of 9, she had come a long way, mostly illustrating creatures from fantasy lore that never existed in our reality, and over time, she began to perfect the art of drawing unicorns.

Bethany, being shy and introverted in nature, was a little nervous about meeting this music tutor. The lessons were being paid for as a birthday present, and she wanted to be able to play the house's piano well, but she worried that the teacher would be as stern as some of the teachers she hated having to bear at school. She hoped that this tutor would be nice.

"Bethanyyyy!" Her mother called up from the first floor. "The tutor is here!"

The young woman burst up from her seat and hurried for the stairs, going down in little hops and making her customary left turn into the living room, where the sight of the woman that had to be her tutor stopped her in her tracks.

She was an uncommonly attractive woman, dressed in a white blouse with puffy sleeves, and an ornate purple vest with attractive golden designs arranged upon it. The tutor's smile was a perfect row of white teeth, with a pair of striking blue eyes to go with it. Her hair, however, was her more noticeable aspect. It was a full head of long black hair, with deep purple streaks fashionably arranged throughout the dark, eye-catching mane.

"Ahh, you must be Bethany. I'm Vanessa. Nice to meet you, love!" The tutor began, a cultured british accent clearly evident. "Are you ready to begin, dear?"

"Ummm...sure." Bethany quietly replied, still staring into Vanessa's eyes, her gaze going between her eyes and her lovely cascade of dark hair.

"Your father and I are going out for a while, honey." Bethany's mother remarked, slipping a gray coat on. "We should be back by the time you're done with your first lessons. See you later!"

Bethany's eyes never left Vanessa's. "OK..." was all that came out of her mouth in reply. It never occured to her how strange it was that her parents were leaving their only child in the house alone with a total stranger. Even if it was a hired tutor, she would normally have been nervous that her parents were actually leaving her with this new person, who she knew next to nothing about.

Still, Vanessa's appearance was strangely inviting. There was something about her that seemed almost...magical. Irresistable. She could not stop staring up at her. Once they both heard the family car pull away, Vanessa's smooth, thin, pale hands cradled the sides of Bethany's head gently.

"Let's go sit at the piano, dear." Vanessa cooed. Bethany just nodded, blankly, as the alluring tutor gently pulled the young woman over to the piano stool and settled into one half of the long seat. "It's been awhile since I was at a regular piano last, to be honest. I'm so used to harpsichords."

Bethany blinked. "You play a harpischord? I _love _those!" She revealed, smiling.

Vanessa let out an infectious and lyrical giggle at this. "Wish you had one here! I must have one of the oldest harpsichords in the world where I live, and it still makes the _loveliest_ sounds. I'd like to think the creatures in the paintings on the wall near where I've placed it appreciate its melodies."

Bethany tilted her head curiously. "What kinds of creatures?"

Vanessa rose up from the bench at this question, looking Bethany straight in the eye. "My favorite kinds of creatures." She then took a step towards the young woman. "Unicorns."

Bethany gasped. "I _draw _unicorns!" She gestured to the stairs excitedly. "I just finished doing one before you arrived! You wanna see? I'll bring it down!"

But Vanessa shook her head, still pleasantly smiling. "We have a bit of work to do." The tutor then stepped slowly behind Bethany, bringing her mouth close to the young woman's ear. "Unless...you want to begin your lessons...elsewhere? Perhaps...have a look at one of the oldest harpsichords in the _world? _A harpsichord is only a couple of steps removed from a piano, after all...quite similar in structure."

Bethany now frowned warily. "How far?"

Vanessa's expression now seemed dismissive. "Hmmm...no, we should stay here..." She moved back to the piano seat.

Bethany, however, was entirely intrigued, and she was quick to try and prod for more of what her fascinating new tutor was offering. "No, no! I'm just curious! How far?"

A sly smile played on Vanessa's lips. One that went unseen by her new...subject. "You'd have to trust me, dear." She then turned to the wildly curious teenager, once again meeting her compelled gaze. "Can you trust me?"

Bethany went quiet at this.

Vanessa then burst up out of the piano bench and once again placed her soft hands on both sides of Bethany's head as she continued to stare at her tutor. "I won't hurt you, if that's your concern." Vanessa gently assured. "We should be back by the time your parents return."

Bethany slowly nodded, the captivating offer inescapably exciting her. "OK..." she murmured.

Vanessa smiled. "Let's go look at your drawings first." She then took Bethany's hand and walked to the staircase, her nervous, but at the same time very excited young woman following behind.

The rest was academic. The door to Bethany's room would open, but beyond the doorspace would instead be the large room of the Seelie Mansion where Vanessa...or rather, the Lady Vestrie...kept her harpsichord.

And once Bethany was entirely inside the Mansion room, any concept of a piano lesson would evaporate.

And once Bethany bit into one of the Lady Vestrie's enchanted apples, the young woman began to hear the Lady Vestrie's infectious harpsichord melodies as a coat of soft white equine fur began to grow upon Bethany's quivering body.

She was terrified at first, despite the lack of pain in her transformation, but the fright of watching the fleshy, swollen-out nubs that were once five-fingered human hands harden and begin reshaping into equine hooves turned to fascination as she felt the alicorn grow on her forehead, a clear sign of what she was becoming.

Once Bethany was secure in her stable, Vanessa removed the new wig Angaron had made for her, restoring the Lady Vestrie's impossibly beautiful Sidhe visage. It was her first time using it, and its enchantment...creating an attractive human form estimating how the Fae user would look as a mortal...had served her well.

* * *

The effects of the goblin brew lingered, but Zahra was able to summon up enough focus for her to watch the images presented by the Tapestry of Fae Souls, which the new Goblin Queen had learned was switched from the Tapestry of Mortal Souls prior to Jareth's capture.

Her mind was still a bit fuzzy, so it was difficult for her to be able to find evidence of Jareth's true feelings for the mortal girl who had become the new Goblin Queen...

...but on a dazed gesture to the space between the Tapestry curtains, the image settled upon a quiet moment in which Jareth was alone in his private quarters. Clearly, something was troubling him.

Looking down from the balcony, he saw the Lady Vestrie clopping towards the gate of his Castle, looking up to give her handsome Prince a goodbye wave. Jareth returned the wave with a plastic smile and a wave of his own. Vestrie simply giggled to herself as the unicorn hastened to a full gallop once they were on the other side of the front gate.

Once Vestrie was far from the Castle, the Goblin King looked to the horizon of his Unseelie world thoughtfully, and as he was known to do on many occasions during his reign, he began to sing with a somewhat lamented voice.

_Once upon a midsummer's dream_

_visions of beauty not as they seem_

_they prance and posture and poison my mind_

_seeming as kin, but in truth, unkind..._

_Brilliant, deceptive, and dangerous_

_'Tis romance that moves me to cause such a fuss_

_What must this little Goblin King do_

_so he can share this black magic dance with you?_

_Why must I wear...a different face?_

_Why must I hide all that I truly am?_

_Everywhere, every time, and every place,_

_Why so important that I be a sham..._

_Just for your love..._

Zahra's eyes lingered on Jareth's face as he sang. The message seemed entirely apparent. He had won the love of the Lady Vestrie, but only because he was wearing Vanity.

And he felt ashamed of it.

His reaction to Vestrie as she rode away also sent a message to the Goblin Queen.

_He didn't truly love her._

Zahra's hand nudged the image forward now, and she saw Jareth enter the Tapestry Room. The color of the Tapestries indicated that the Tapestry of Mortal Souls was in place, and its images came to life in front of Jareth as he sipped from a chalice of wine.

The images were of various mortal females of various ages. He lingered for a moment upon a young blonde in a small town, but upon seeing all of the religious trinkets and pictures on the wall of her room, Jareth's expression wrinkled and his hand whisked the image away.

The next one he lingered on was a redhead. As nice-looking as she was, she picked up a phone and began talking to a total stranger about the benefits of voting for a presidential candidate. Jareth found himself nodding off as he listened to her spirited voice show her overriding interest in politics.

That image, too, was whisked away once he had blinked himself out of his drowsiness.

Zahra couldn't help but giggle at this...but her smile dissolved to one of extreme curiosity as the next image Jareth had settled upon was the young girl Zahra used to be twenty years ago.

The young, petulant girl suffering from having to endure the maddening complaints of a crying infant she was forced to watch over.

Jareth then listened to the young girl's spoken laments, the sting of which Zahra still felt as she heard them.

"I can bear it no longer!" The young girl cried. "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"

Jareth had to view this particular part again.

And then again.

He froze the image in place. And then stared for a long moment.

As he stared, his gloved hand slowly came up in front of him and nudged the image forward.

As he watched...and as Zahra watched...the young girl seemed to empty of any concept of salvation, the baby's cries of anguish forcing a surrender, and she spent the rest of the evening tending to the child.

She then made a conscious choice once her parents returned. One that filled Jareth...and Zahra...with horror.

The young girl slowly began to empty her room of all her lingering beliefs. All her dolls, all her books, everything that maintained her interest in fairy tales. In her dreams. She had surrendered to reality. In the days that followed, she became less of a young girl holding on to her dreams of goblins and unicorns and more of an introverted homebody. A few nudges upon the images confirmed that she never went back to her old beliefs.

Worse still, she began to embrace religion.

The image froze on the young girl's empty face, sitting alone in her room. And again, Jareth stared.

A tear then ran down the Goblin King's right eye.

Zahra was entirely stunned. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. If Jareth had not come into her life, proving that there was something to her dreams and her love of fairy tales, this was to be her fate. An empty shell of a young woman who would later be no different from the mundane masses. There would be little to set her apart from everyone else around her.

Sobriety seemed to set in by now at long last, and she wondered how Jareth would react to having watched all this.

A matter involving his goblins, however, interrupted his concerns, and Zahra nudged the image forward once more. Once Jareth found himself returning to the Tapestry Room, Zahra resumed the image flow.

Jareth watched the run of the young girl's images _again_. And once again, he found himself stopping the image at the girl's plea to the Goblin King.

He played it one more time before he rose up, a frown on his face and a look of determination in his eyes.

"I can bear this..._no longer._" Jareth then intoned. He then left the Tapestry Room and called forth a large group of his goblins, all of them gathering in his throne room for a private matter. Jareth raised his hands to silence the gibbering menagerie, and they all looked to their King curiously.

"We have work to do." The Goblin King began. "Listen carefully."

What followed astounded Zahra, and as she watched Jareth make arrangements using a curious item he had procured from a stash of apparently enchanted items...a strange trinket resembling a combination lock, which he referred to as a Chronolox.

With this Chronolox, which apparently had power over the flow of time in the world above, Jareth had laid out a path which would inevitably lead this yearning young girl into an encounter with the Goblin King himself. Unique toys bearing the likenesses of various individuals in Jareth's little world found themselves in the hands of the young girl as she grew to the age in which she would finally meet the Goblin King.

And the crowning touch of Jareth's arrangements was to ensure that this young girl would become the bearer of a certain red book, within which she would learn of a past adventure within Jareth's world.

And every step of the way, he had instructed his goblins to make certain the Lady Vestrie was entirely unaware of what he was doing. With one last use of the Chronolox, he was ready to respond to the young girl's spoken wish, and at long last enter her life.

Zahra stopped the images, remembering something the Goblin King had said to her when she was still that young girl.

_I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you!_

The Goblin Queen sat there for a long moment in dead silence.

She now realized that statement was more than just eloquent fancy when he first spoke them. What she had seen were proof that Jareth's words were genuine. He _had _reordered time, and had turned her world upside down by leaving a path of breadcrumbs for her to follow.

And he did, indeed, do it all for her.

Jareth had uniquely saved her from an empty life. Saved her from becoming mundane. Becoming lost to politics and religion and corporate culture.

And where was he now? Locked in the form of an Owl. Literally in a cage.

As much as Zahra now found it oddly fascinating to rule his world _as _a goblin, she did not want to do it alone.

The King needed his Queen at his side.

The King also needed to be freed, and placed back in power.

Although the King himself needed to stop hiding behind a wig when he was alongside his fellow goblins.

As she ventured these thoughts in her solitude, she noticed an arm begin to snake around her from behind. An arm clad in black armor.

She snapped her head back hard, feeling her head collide with the temple of the goblin behind her. Hax spilled to the floor holding his bleeding face.

Zahra rose up, rubbing the back of her head, which throbbed with the pain of the impact. She frowned when she confirmed who it was. "Who invited _you_, Hax?"

Hax now had two hands at his face. The bleeding was excessive. Zahra's hard head had fractured the goblin's already-crooked nose. The clogging at his nose obviously affected his speech as he whined. "I figured you deeded cobpady! By bistake!"

Zahra's frown deepened. "Have you found Angaron yet?"

Hax staggered to his feet. "Da Hord Wud idsisted he hudt Adgarod dowd persodally."

The Goblin Queen's tone went a little louder in her irritation. "You should have stuck with him ANYWAY!"

Hax's head lowered shamefully at this. "I was...bore...codcer'd...for your safedy!"

Zahra's harsh expression softened. Hax sounded as wounded as his nose was, and all because he wanted to protect the new Goblin Queen. "Hax...the Horned one is the only one I'm really worried about."

"Your edebies could be _adywhere!_" Hax whined, wincing over the pain in his nose. "I'd bedder ged back to by dudies..." He began to walk away.

Zahra, however, placed a hand on his armored shoulder. "Turn around and stand still." She softly remarked.

The Goblin Queen then stepped a distance from Hax, who was still holding his injured nose. Turning back to the armored goblin, a crystal globe whirled its way up to Zahra's right hand, which was extended out, as if aiming the ball at Hax.

Logically, the goblin looked _very _nervous. He worried if he was about to be punished further as Zahra positioned herself like a baseball pitcher, whirling her hand around as she fired the crystal out to Hax's nose.

Hax squinted his eyes shut, expecting it to shatter upon his head in punishment for defying the Goblin Queen.

The crystal, however, disappeared entirely the very moment it touched the tip of his wounded nose. In the next moment, the fractured bones painfully snapped back into place, the magic of the crystal effectively healing Hax's injury despite the pain that made the armored goblin howl in agony.

But the pain subsided in the next moment, and Hax fingered the length of his now-mended nose.

"Oooh!" Hax grinned, somewhat lecherously, over the Queen's unexpected gesture. "How much closer am I to another...private encounter?"

Zahra smirked. "Dismissed."

Hax sighed. "Yes, my Queen..." And with that, he finally left Zahra alone once more in the Tapestry Room.

Finally emerging from the Tapestry Room, she saw that Flavia was waiting for her, with a full flagon of the goblin brew in her hands.

"Follow me." Zahra calmly remarked, and the pair of goblins made their way through the goblin menagerie, returning to Jareth's private quarters.

The Goblin Queen then turned to Flavia once the servant shut the door behind her, locking it at the Queen's request. Zahra then took the flagon from Flavia and placed it on a nearby countertop.

"You have a _lot _of important work to do." Zahra began. "Listen carefully."


	32. Chapter 32: Before The World Fell Down

The High Chamberlain sat alone in the columned structure within the Golden Lane. In front of him was one of his friends, a beautiful Sidhe maiden who he had asked to play melodies for him using her delicately-tuned harp, and she had pleasantly granted this request. She was on her fifth tune as the High Chamberlain continued to listen without saying a single word.

His thoughts were of Zahra, once the human champion of the Labyrinth under a different name, who he was forced to condemn to spend the rest of her life as a goblin. The melodies being played to him did little to lodge the potent regrets from his mind. He had spent his days and nights since having cast the hand of justice upon Zahra feeling empty and miserable. He held to his duties as the High Chamberlain, but...that was about the only semblance of life that the Sidhe nobleman had left, seeing as how negative emotions, and regrets much like that the High Chamberlain suffered from, had such a crippling effect upon Seelie Fae folk.

Still...the melodies were nevertheless soothing, and a welcome respite from his responsibilites.

Such was his detachment that he did not notice the three small, but bulky shapes...one of which was clad in the furs of unscrupulous animals he had slain...approach the columned building. Moments later, the High Chamberlain's peripheral vision caught the dwarven Lord Fjord stepping over to him, his two dwarf advisors to his left and right just behind him.

The hard-featured dwarven Lord angled his gaze to the Harp Player. "A right lovely tune ye pluckin', lass. I wonder if ye might break fer a moment or three? Got a wee bit o' business fer the good Chamberlain here...an' its importance be as mighty as me finest axe!"

With a pleasant smile, the Harp player nodded sweetly and, using her Sidhe magic, shrank the Harp until it could fit in one of the pockets of her silken gown as the High Chamberlain rose to approach her, placing his hands upon her shoulders gently.

"Thank you so much, Erika." The High Chamberlain smiled. "I really needed that. I hope I might call on you again?"

"Anytime, my Lord." she replied in the sweetest of tones, and after a cordial bow, Erika walked away from the columned building with graceful steps.

The High Chamberlain then turned to the dwarven Lord. "So, old friend...what brings you to the Golden Lane?"

"Apologies, Lord Chamberlain, fer breakin' ye serenity." Fjord began. "The days since that trial musta been rough on ye. I'd offer a pint if I had me stores here."

The High Chamberlain chuckled as they began slowly walking, side by side, away from the building. "As you know, your brews are a bit strong for me...but under the circumstances, I would have actually drained a mug or three. It's good to see you again, Fjord. For once, I get to see a face other than Angaron's wanting a chat."

"Aye...about that..." Fjord then noted. "...ye might need a full seven mugs after what I've been told about that rotter."

The High Chamberlain stopped, and then turned fully to Fjord with fierce curiosity. The dwarf sounded quite serious. "I'm listening." The Sidhe nobleman then remarked.

Fjord then repeated what Hoggle had told him. About Angaron being a minotaur and using magic to mask his true appearance. About his want to rule the labyrinth and enslave the goblins to the Seelie Court's whims.

The High Chamberlain's eyes grew larger and larger as the facts were given to him. The shock was particularly evident on his face when he was told Angaron was now a creature that was not of Fae blood.

"That would render him immune to the Iron Winter Blade." The Chamberlain looked away for a moment. "This is not good..."

"I doubt ye rulin' council would want such a beastie in the ranks, though?" Fjord surmised.

"That is my sole comfort, and my next move." The Chamberlain replied. "If ever we get our hands on him, I will, at long last, have him locked up on a treason charge. And I will enjoy every bloody minute of it."

"Assumin' the ragin' monstrosity should _let _ye put him in irons." Fjord warned. "From what Hoggle told, that horned savage be a tower o' vile malice."

The High Chamberlain's right eyebrow rose when he heard the name. "Hoggle? Isn't that the one you..."

"That fog's long passed, Lord Chamberlain." Fjord interjected. "Fer the good he's doin', he's earned me axe in respect...but I figure if a Winter Blade be less than its bite, ye'd wanta have a regiment on hand tae back up the dwarves, seein' as how this is _Angaron _spreadin' the ire. We don't even know if he be the _only _non-Fae brute in Jareth's sandbox."

The High Chamberlain nodded. "Tactically sound advice, as usual...but I don't want to raise any alarms just yet. I'd have to personally confirm that Angaron has the entire goblin menagerie under his control, willing or otherwise."

Fjord now quirked a thick eyebrow. "Meaning...?"

"Isn't it obvious, old friend?" The High Chamberlain smiled. "I'm going with you. And I am taking a small regiment with me, just in case."

* * *

Flavia walked nervously up to the one chamber that was restricted to all save the Goblin King himself, and anyone he had personally sent by means of a writ. Thankfully, the new Goblin Queen was able to furnish this writ. Flavia wondered how, seeing as how Jareth was in captivity, but it was not her place as a servant to question a noble. Only to serve.

Within this chamber were the controls that kept the entire Goblin Castle aloft, and hovering high above the labyrinth grounds. The disadvantage of this task...undoubtedly the toughest of all the jobs Zahra had asked her to do...was that neither the Goblin Queen, nor Flavia, knew _anything _about how to raise or lower the Castle.

Flavia, however, seemed confident that since goblins were not all known for being particularly smart, that the process would be somewhat simple, if not entirely simple. Pull a lever, ideally. Or turn a big crank. Hopefully, it was a process that only one goblin could pull off.

Her mission was clear. The Castle of the Goblin King needed to be brought back down to the grounds. Zahra even gave her an olive branch: food and drink, all of it on a large wooden platter which she carefully carried with her. As the burden needed to be carefully balanced, she was forced to kick at the closed door to the chamber hard while holding the platter with both hands.

As Zahra had told her, she received the expected reply from a goblin voice within. "Writ!"

Fortunately, the slot was clearly marked in the goblin language on the door, translating literally to "WRIT HERE", and an arrow pointing to the slot.

Flavia, however, had the Writ in her mouth, and she hoped to maintain balance on the full platter with one arm as she plucked the Writ and slid it through the slot. She quickly brought the hand back to the platter when she felt a hand within pull the Writ the rest of the way through.

After a bit of muttering, a raised voice was then heard from within. "FOOD? BREW? Let her _in_, you dummy!"

There were not one, not two, but _three _goblins inside the chamber. Flavia's heart sank. This was not a good sign, but they were all at least happy and willing to bring the food and drink into the chamber, and they all set upon the offered brew and food while muttering how they had not been fed for whole _weeks_.

As they chowed down upon the food and drink, Flavia tried to get a good look at the controls. They seemed simple enough, but she needed to be able to get up a little closer to them to comprehend it all. She tried craning her head forward...

...but this earned her a glance from a boggle-eyed goblin, whose eyes literally went narrow in shape. "Wha 'choo PEEEEEP at, hmmm?" The goblin tilted his head warily. "Don'chu know dat peeper-ing at controooolzies eez VEEEERY _baaaaad?_"

"I'm sorry...I was...curious..." Flavia replied quietly.

But the trio of goblins began muttering among themselves. She then heard one of them say "Vote!" Three gnarly hands then went up.

The "peeper" goblin then rose up, a hand at his waist. "Vote unaminik!" He then produced a blade. "You die!"

"What? But...but I had a Writ!" Flavia protested, her face going fearful.

The goblin then blinked. After a moment, he turned to the other three. "Ree-negosha!" The other two goblins muttered in protest, but they resumed their apparent voting mutter. Flavia's eyes went back to the controls, but she dared not crane her head forward.

"Vote!" She heard once again. This time, only two hands went up. "Grr! Nooo unaminiiiiii..."

All three goblins suddenly dropped to the ground after a chorus of murmuring stomachs emanated from the guts of the trio.

Flavia blinked. Tainted food, no doubt. She hurried to the controls, and got a closer look at all of them, hoping it didn't require three goblins just to drop the Castle.

But that hereditary impulse for goblin mischief, in that moment, began to nudge at the goblin servant's conscience as she saw a large lever among the controls. One that drew her wide-eyed attention in a manner as irresistable as most feel when presented with the dare to press a large, but dangerous, red button.

And, sure enough, the lever was marked "DROP".

* * *

Sir Didymus rode long and hard through and around the various labyrinth landscapes, the "package" he had with him mumbling as if gagged. This part of the plan was apparently crucial, but it also carried the distinct chance of the bargain backfiring.

Still…Sir Didymus was certain the bargain was worth a shot.

He had listened carefully to Hoggle's instructions in getting to the locale where Sarah Williams had once run into them. Didymus was of course hesitant to ask for instructions from the package itself, as there was no telling what kind of gripes and ramblings he'd hear from the package in the absence of what was clearly more important to it.

Fortunately, Ambrosius had picked up a scent, and was beginning to follow it. The mutterings from the package were getting a bit more frenetic, as well.

A sure sign they were close to their destination.

And then came the sound of mutterings, and even a wild tune. A glow now served as a beacon for Ambrosius as he padded towards it.

"Careful now, my loyal friend." Didymus whispered. "Thou must not step unwisely now, lest you spring a…"

_TWANNNNG!_

With a roar of motion and a hiss of rustling leaves, up went the yelping sheepdog and his mount as the crude, but effective net wrapped around them from the surface, its four points firing skyward. They hovered a few inches from the ground as the gibbering occupants of the glowing area began to head in their direction.

"_YYYAAAAHH_-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAH!" came the sound of the wild-haired beast he last saw as a stationary, all-white shape in the Forest of Fuddles…except _this _time, it was moving, and its hair was the color of wild fires. A long, crooked nose grew out from beneath a pair of large eyes.

Its expression, however, was a bit more angry than Hoggle had described it.

"WEEEE _GOT_-CHAAAAA!" The Fire-haired creature grinned as its identical-looking pals leaped and rolled out to join him. They, too, looked a bit less jovial in nature. Even though Sir Didymus had never dealt with such creatures at length, he remembered them from the evening celebration in Sarah's room following the first labyrinth victory. Something was clearly off in their nature, and he suspected it had to do with the package he was prepared to use as a bargaining tool.

"Um…indeed thou hast! Good-O! Nice to see thee again!" Didymus chimed in his inverted entanglement within the net as Ambrosius barked angrily. "Do let us down now, if thou wouldst? Let us make this a fair fight, if it must come to such!"

"_GAAARRRRRRR!_" The first Firey then growled, as loud as it could, spreading its claws threateningly in emphasis. "You go _nowhere!_ No fun here, no way, no more!"

"_NOOOO!_ " spoke another Firey. "Yooooou arrrrrre _PRRRRISONEEERRRRR!_"

Didymus blinked. "Um…well…I wonder if thou art the same fellows…thou art, in fact, the so-called _Fire Gang_, yes?"

"Grrrrrr…_NNNOOOOOOO!_" growled the first Firey, as the others in the band of wild-haired creatures shook their heads vigorously.

"But…but…thou dost _look _like the Fire Gang, yes?" Didymus asked.

"Weeeee are…NO LONGER the _OLD _Fire Gang!" The first growled, eliciting a chorus of Nos and Nopes from the other Fireys. "WEEEE ARE NOW…AND ALWAAYYYYS…BY TWO-THIRDS VOTE…" The first shoved his face right into Didymus as he roared their new identity. "…THE _FERAL _FIRE GANG!"

And with that, the others cut loose with a loud, collective, and angry howl unto the heavens. It was enough of an intimidating sound to make Ambrosius whine with worry.

"Oh dear…" Didymus replied, ending the uneasy silence that followed. "…and…how didst thou come unto this, uh…vote?"

"HAH!" Another Firey blurted out. "You think we tell YOOOOU about Wood-Face?"

"STOOO-pid!" The first Firey then screeched. "You just _told_ him!"

A fifth Firey advanced threateningly on this loose-lipped Firey. "OFF WITH YOU HEAD!"

The errant Firey pouted. "Will I get it back?"

The first Firey then looked to Ambrosius, struggling in the net…and flashed an evil grin. "We give you DAT head!"

"Oooh! Fluffy head! I LIKE!" the loose-lipped Firey lit up in anticipation as the Fireys all advanced on Didymus's canine mount. Ambrosius uttered fearful barks in protest.

Didymus summoned up his most commanding tone. "STOP!"

All heads turned to Didymus.

"That is MY mount, and _I _shall decide where my loyal steed's head shall remain, and I _demand_ that it remain where it is!" Didymus commanded.

A moment of silence followed. The first Firey then walked up to Didymus.

"Right!" The wild-haired creature began. It then grabbed the Knight's head. "We take YOURS instead!"

Three sets of long-fingered hands seized the head of the Fox Terrier despite his protests and began to tug. Didymus groaned in discomfort as they tried fruitlessly to pull off the furry knight's head.

It was then that the Fireys finally heard the murmuring of the "package" Didymus brought with him, lashed to the saddle of his mount.

All eyes turned to the box. The first Firey, however, turned his large eyes to Didymus, firing a long finger to the box. "WHAZZA _DAT?_"

"Ah-ah! Only if thou dost cut us loose!" Didymus reasoned. "Thou hast my word of honor that thou wilst know what is in that box, but _only _if we are freed!"

The gibbering Fireys then climbed to the point where the four ends of the thick net came together and after a bit of struggling with knots, the net dropped to the ground, freeing both its occupants as the four corners collapsed to the ground below. Ambrosius quickly padded up to Didymus and began to lick at his muzzle happily over his freedom.

Once both Didymus and Ambrosius were upright, the knight fixed his one good eye on the first Firey. "Right. Now…lead me to this 'Wood-Face'."

"BOX FIRST!" The first Firey screeched, a chorus of angry gibberings behind him.

"And what if I told thou that this box was in fact…" Didymus was, of course, being crafty now with his words. "…a _gift _for thy Wood-Faced liege? Why dost thou think I have come here in the _first _place?"

The first Firey seemed to freeze in consideration of this, and he then turned to the other Fireys. A silent bit of gibbers could be heard in the huddle.

Long-fingered hands then went up, as if taking votes.

The Firey group then turned back to Didymus. "Follow! Bring da box!" The first Firey squawked.

The knight's unspoken surmise regarding "Wood-Face" proved correct: it was indeed a headless member of the Fire Gang. It was an eerily stationary Firey, as well, and the murmuring from inside the box got significantly louder as the box was brought near to the headless body, which seemed to shake with anticipation.

The voices of all the Fireys barked in unison, and with a surprisingly vicious tone. "BOX!"

Didymus gasped at the outburst, but finally complied, pulling the green ribbon bond keeping the lid of the box secure. Even after the ribbon was gone, however, Didymus found he needed to not only release the head itself, but also remove the coverings at the head's eyes and mouth. Once the cloth restraints were pulled off of the disembodied head, it blinked rapidly before flying out of the box and back upon the stump of the headless Firey. Ambrosius had clamped his jaws down on the weird, voodoo-like wooden face that had been positioned at the stump and pulled it aside.

Once the headless Firey had been restored, it let out an elated howl and then bounced back to a space alongside the other Fireys. It then began to spin in place, apparently a signal for the others to spin as well.

And as they spun, they began to glow with a warm light. As they spun faster and faster, they glowed brighter and brighter.

Didymus and Ambrosius seemed to agree that distancing themselves from an apparently fiery catharsis would be wise, but they continued watching what was about to transpire.

The entire group of Fireys then shot into the skies, surging with the loud sizzle of ignited bottle-rockets, and then exploding...with loud pops, and a collective "YAAAH!"...into glowing flowers of fire in the sky before the entire Fire Gang floated back down to the ground, gibbering with loud glee.

Once they were back on the ground, the far more jubilant Fire Gang began to prance wildly around, as if a party that had been rudely interrupted, and was perpetually placed on hold, was back on. They all sang their signature tune and engaged in antics entirely similar to that which they once tried to cajole Sarah Williams into joining.

But when they got to the point where one of the Fireys rolled "snake-eyes", the disembodied eyes had spotted Didymus and Ambrosius, still rooted to their spots in a nearby brush.

"OOOOH! TIME OUT!" The eyeless Firey observed. "I spy...with my Firey eye...FLUFFIES!"

"OOOOOH, FLUFFIES!" The other Fireys exclaimed, and they all once again gathered up on Didymus and Ambrosius, this time looking much more animated and jovial.

Didymus looked to his steed. "Well! They certainly seem much less threatening!"

Ambrosius barked once in agreement.

But then, one of the Fireys gleefully screeched out "FLUFFY FLAME CIRCLE!"

A howl of elation followed this exclamation, and two Fireys now circled Didymus and Ambrosius, their fluffy feet lit with flames that ignited a wide circle around the knight and his steed.

Didymus looked logically puzzled. "Um...and...what are we to..."

"Show us ya MOVES!" A Firey cried out in response. A chorus of agreeing gibbers followed from the others. One of them gibbered the word "dance", and the knight's one good eye went wide with recognition.

"Oh! 'Tis a DANCE thou wishest? I shall out-dance ANY-one, ANY-where, ANY-time!" Didymus exclaimed. "Thy step of choice? Salsa? The Twist? Shall we Lambada? Time Warp? The Riverdance, mayhap? Or a spot of..._break_-dance?"

But all the Fireys cried out their unanimous choice. "FLA-_MEN_-COOOOO!"

"Hmmm, alas...'tis a dance for two, and my steed is...physically incapable, I'm afraid!" Didymus explained, producing a bit of a whimper from the sheepdog as he lowered his head in disappointment.

"_Unless_...thou art referring to Flamenco _Puro_..." He then added thoughtfully.

At that, the trained legs of the Fox Terrier began to engage in improvised, stamping steps, and the surrounding Fireys began to clap out a loud beat, their heads bouncing around and upon each other's stumps as they continued to keep the beat going. Ambrosius, realizing what his master was doing, chose to leap out of the circle to give the knight all the space he needed. Sir Didymus then came alive with the talent he had developed in the great adventure he had engaged in following the first labyrinth adventure alongside Sarah Williams, in which he was challenged to a duel by dance, rather than a duel to the death.

The clap beat began to get faster and faster, the ring of fire glowing brighter and brighter as Sir Didymus maintained his concentration on the Flamenco Puro he was engaging in with every trained step of his paws. "Hey! He's pretty good!" one Firey openly observed as they quickened the clap beat.

The claps were loud and Firey eyes boggled. Didymus was in high energy in his improvised steps. He was determined to pass this most unique challenge. The pinnacle of his routine was a spirited spin that went faster and faster until he launched himself into the sky, twisting and turning above the ground before landing on his furry knees, sliding forward with a spirited "HEY!"

The Fire Circle extinguished itself as the Fireys cheered loudly for the knight, who stood up and stared upon the jubilant Fireys for a quiet moment. He heard Ambrosius bark excitedly as they cried out in satisfaction.

Sir Didymus, without changing his expression, then collapsed to the ground in absolute exhaustion.

* * *

Ever since being locked in the small room, the black strap feeling tight against her throat, Cerenede could find little to interest her as she waited for whatever horrible occurrence would come next. This was the first time she was ever actually captured by agents of the Unseelie, and she was worried if her situation would get any worse.

Ever since leaving the Lady Vestrie's Mansion, she had gone from one horrible calamity...temporarily becoming a victim of the Bog of Eternal Stench's lingering stink...to another, becoming a prisoner of Unseelie goblins.

Her thoughts were of the unusual, but kind menagerie of friends who had freed her from not only the cave, but the horrible stench. The dwarf. The furry knight and his sheepdog mount. She began to wonder, though, what kind of creature the large, furry beast with the horns was, and her thoughts partially lingered on him as she paced around the room.

For the most part, however, her thoughts were of the condemned 'beautiful human'.

And as she entertained these thoughts, she felt the collar around her neck get warmer. The warmth was comforting, so she allowed her thoughts to linger further. For no good reason other than to kill the time she was spending as a prisoner, she set mentally-formed words to her thoughts.

_I wish I could see the beautiful human again..._

Cerenede sighed lamentedly, leaning against a wall, and then sliding against the wall to the ground.

But as she sat in silence, she heard a growly voice in her head.

_Who this?_

The Sidhe girl's eyes went wide. Was this voice _responding _to her? She looked around the room curiously, and confirmed she was the only one in the locked chamber.

She tried another mental message.

_Can you hear me?_

A moment of silence followed. Cerenede stayed completely still, hoping to hear more of the growly voice.

After a few minutes...

_Who tawking to Wudo?_

Cerenede now noticed that between the thought messages, the warmth of the collar had cooled some, and it now became apparent to her that the collar she was wearing was, for reasons she could not grasp, giving her the ability to mentally communicate with who she remembered to be the large, furry giant with the horns.

Her little hands went to the collar as she mentalized another message, and once again, she felt the collar grow warm.

_Ludo? You're the one called Ludo? It's me! The little Sidhe girl! The one looking for the beautiful human! Please help me! They've taken me to the Castle in the Sky and locked me in a room!_

Another minute passed before Ludo gave his reply.

_But...Wudo need WINGS!_

Cerenede sighed, now wondering if there was anyone...any way...she knew of that could help them find a way to reach the Castle.

It was at this point that she felt a shudder throughout the whole of the Castle. A very sharp shudder. A lurch in her gut quickly followed as voices all over the airborne stronghold cried out in surprise as she began stumbling about, and everything within her prison began to chaotically shake and slide and tumble around noisily.

The Castle was _falling_, and it was falling _fast!_

* * *

**A few moments before the fall...**

It was now time for the wait to end. Angaron could not afford to allow Zahra to rule independently of his influence any further than he already had. Even if it meant wrapping it around her green, rubbery neck by force, the enchanted collar needed to be applied to her. His whole plan was dependent on having Zahra rule as his puppet. He had unwisely thought the intimidation factor of his being a minotaur...a larger and much more aggressive creature compared to a mere goblin...would be enough to keep her under control, but his instincts were reminder enough that this former human had been ordained the Champion of the Labyrinth for a reason: she wasn't the pushover Angaron initially thought she would be.

With the obedience collar in one large, brown-furred hand, and his huge axe in the other, Angaron commenced his hunt. Even if it meant potentially turning against the entire goblin horde just to get to her, the collar had to be applied. _Now._

He first surmised that the new Goblin Queen would be in Jareth's private quarters, but the guards had informed Angaron that the Queen was not in the room, and she did not state where she was going.

There was another possibility he wanted to entertain, but he was struck with the sublimely cruel notion of making a bargain that could capably compel Zahra to willingly accept the collar.

But this required that he strap his giant weapon to his back, and acquire the enchanted cage within which Jareth was trapped, and held to his Barn Owl form. The convenience of this was that the Horned One himself had demanded he be the one to keep watch on the cage.

Once he had the cage with him, Angaron then clopped over...with heavy, determined steps...to where Stave, the Iron Shadow agent, was imprisoned. The goblin Jailer made inquiries about the bird, but a low, menacing growl from the minotaur was enough to convince the Jailer that it was unwise to force answers...or compliance...out of the dreaded, enigmatic titan known as the Horned One.

Jareth was strangely quiet as the minotaur made his way towards where Stave had been chained.

Strangely, Angaron did not hear the rustling of chains. He knew that the fallen Iron Shadow agent had been tightly bound by both wrists and ankles, and the chains were enchanted. Angaron had the advantage of knowing a little something about the capabilities of the Iron Shadow assassins, and so he knew that Stave had no way of escaping for as long as his arms and legs were spread apart.

But Angaron figured that since Stave was an abomination, he would at least thrash about, or otherwise move, in discomfort in some manner.

His prison area, however, was dead silent save for a faint dripping noise.

Angaron confirmed that Stave was indeed there, but the agent's head was hanging down lifelessly.

The minotaur closed the distance between him and the motionless prisoner a little further...and that's when he saw it. He also confirmed the reason for the dripping noise.

An Iron Winter Blade had been buried in the agent's breast. Its position was right at his heart as the blood continued to drip down steadily. The scent Angaron picked up on confirmed the truth without his having to physically check the body.

Stave was dead.

Angaron tilted his head to the side. Was this _Zahra's _doing?

From the shadows behind where the corpse hung, he then heard a voice, which confirmed the close goblin scent when the minotaur gave Stave's body a whiff.

"Are you proud of me, Horned One?"

Zahra stepped into the flickering, faint torchlight illumination in the area, a menacing smile on her face. "I knew he'd come for me eventually. I won't have this one murdering any more of my people."

A half-smile played on Angaron's bull muzzle as his horrible, fiery voice spoke once more. "Impressive, my Queen." He then placed the cage on the damp floor. "Shall I dispense with the former King, then? Or would _you_ prefer to end him?"

Zahra blinked. She did not see the cage when the Horned One walked in. She struggled to think of a response to this.

The collar was out of sight, wrapped around the handle of the large axe that was on the back of the Horned One. The minotaur took a step forward towards the Queen.

"You hesitate." He growled. "You are the Queen of the goblins. You have usurped the reigning Goblin King and have inherited his domain...and you _hesitate?_"

Another voice joined in the moment. One which the both of them were quick to recognize. "Tut, tut! T'would be _unwise _to rush your Queen, _cow!_"

Hax stepped into the light as Angaron growled with barely-restrained fury, the teeth of his muzzle clenched angrily. Hax, however, just grinned as he positioned himself at a distance from both the minotaur and his Queen with casual, amused steps. He was, as always, well-armed and armored.

But then, his head turned to the Queen. "Although I should, in fairness, advise my Queen..." Hax stepped slowly over to her. "...that if she won't kill Jareth? _I will._"

And now, it was two against one. Two wanting Jareth dead, and the Queen's rule hanging in the balance. No amount of playing a semi-submissive, devious pawn...any further than Zahra already had...could protect Jareth now. She imagined that even if she played the royalty card, she or Jareth could still lose the stand-off.

Hax glanced to Angaron, who was slowly, silently positioning himself to a space behind Zahra in her moment of indecision, pulling the enchanted collar from the axe handle. Her eyes were on Jareth's avian form, and the Owl seemed to stare back up at her, wondering what she would do.

With another silent drop of blood from the corpse, a voice suddenly barked in Zahra's goblin mind.

_BEHIND YOU!_

Angaron surged forward, the collar ready to wrap around her throat.

The collar, however, didn't make it to Zahra's skin, as the Castle's stationary position in the sky had suddenly, dramatically, changed.

It was going straight down. _Fast._


	33. Chapter 33: Cleaning Up The Mess

Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, and the Fire Gang.

Hoggle's intrepid group of Junk People, their new goblin ally...and Ludo...among them.

The High Chamberlain, with his six-man escort...and the dwarven Lord Fjord...riding alongside him.

The Lady Vestrie, riding on the back of her new unicorn steed, Bethany.

They all had their eyes to the skies, having noticed the airborne Castle of the Goblin King begin to plummet from where it was hovering.

Fear and shock registered on all their faces, for they knew that there were people they cared for within the stronghold.

And if the impact was violent enough, each and every one of those people would die.

* * *

Flavia looked frantically around the controls after having pulled the lever. They were falling fast enough to inflict an impact that would potentially kill _everyone _in the Castle!

Any and all manner of knob, switch, and lever was quickly perused. None of them seemed like it would produce the desired result.

She couldn't ask the goblin controllers, either. Even as the Castle was falling, they were all still out cold. Flavia figured they'd even waste time with one of their confounded "votes", as well.

Undaunted, she continued to look around frantically for something to pull. To push. To press. To turn. To flick on or off. She'd bang a large wrench against a dangerous, high-voltage circuit...or grab a live, sparking wire...if it meant slowing their descent.

Two controls then caught her attention. A hand crank and a large red button. Below this pair of controls were the words "AUX PROPULSION"

There was something attractive about that word to Flavia in this moment. _Propulsion_.

Grabbing the handle of the crank, she began to spin it as fast as she could. After six full revolutions, a red light illuminated the large button next to the crank, which Flavia was quick to press as hard as she possibly could.

She then felt the ground beneath her vibrate significantly, followed by a rising humming sound, and a rush of air.

And, thankfully, the descent began to slow up significantly...

...but it didn't make the impact that followed any less thunderous, loud, and jarring.

* * *

Zahra had seized the opportunity to grab the large cage by its ring, dragging it behind her as she distanced herself from Hax and the Horned One. The ground beneath her was shaking during the Castle's plummet, but it made no difference to the Goblin Queen.

She was, after all, above the ground.

The weight of the heavy cage kept her anchored low and close to the ground, however, and she could barely heft the cage off the ground as she flew away. She was also restricted to the passages of the Castle as it sped for the ground. Zahra made only one glance behind her, and she confirmed that both Hax and the Horned One were indeed spilling about, disoriented, near where Stave was chained. Only the Horned One was struggling to keep Zahra in sight, but she had distance on her side.

That changed when the Castle finally slowed, and then smashed into the ground with an impact as loud as a vicious explosion.

The impact also dislodged a door from an old wooden closet, which flew over and viciously smacked into Zahra's airborne form. The rickety wooden door shattered, but the impact sent the Goblin Queen head-first into one of the solid walls of the Castle. The collision wildly disoriented her by consequence, and despite her heavy dizziness, she desperately began looking for the cage.

A roar of fury, and the sound of smashing and wrecking getting close to her current location alerted her to the angry approach of the minotaur. It didn't surprise her that the furry beast had quickly recovered from the impact, but she was now in a bad spot because the world still did not stop spinning in her dazed vision, and she still did not spot the cage.

The throbbing in her head was torturous and she tried to ignore it, concentrating on spotting any hint of the cage, which had to be nearby.

By the time her eyes finally settled upon it, a large minotaur was standing beside it, and his huge axe was in the air. The Horned One was about to bring it down on the Cage!

Fighting through the daze, summoning up all her will and determination, Zahra charged towards the cage and lunged, grabbing it. The momentum of her charge sent her and the Cage sliding away from where the axe had struck, the angry impact shuddering the ruined section of the Castle they were in.

Zahra quickly checked the cage for a way to open it, and found a latch. The Horned One bellowed out a roar of rage, and then tromped angrily towards Zahra. In one of his furry hands was a strap large enough to wrap around her throat.

The Goblin Queen's green hands managed to click the latch open, and the bottom of the two-part cage dropped, allowing the Barn Owl to quickly flap into the sky, and away from the enchanted cage.

The Owl landed on the ground near where the Horned One was now wrestling with the smaller, weaker Goblin Queen to get a collar around her throat.

The Owl's eyes, centered entirely on Zahra, then flashed sharply.

Zahra then felt a major surge of energy shoot through her muscles as the strap came dangerously close to her neck. As the dazed Goblin Queen's teeth clenched in her wild determination to keep the strap away, she not only felt that daze in her head begin to clear, but she also felt herself suddenly get stronger and stronger.

And, as her now-bulging and growing arm and leg muscles indicated, _larger_.

She began to rip out of her royal dress as the strange and painful effect, which surprised even the Horned One, seized Zahra's body, making her about as large as Ludo as her muscles swelled and bones cracked, the sharp throbbing eliciting guttural growls of pain from what was once a little goblin. The troll-like monstrosity she had apparently been turned into rose to her feet as she began to wrestle against the Horned One's own strength, her raw determination fighting through the pain. The Owl's gaze lingered, and with the next flash of the bird's eyes, Zahra's strength _doubled_, and she was able to thrash the minotaur violently about the ruins of the room they squared off in, her mind lost to a shot of berserker fury, until the Horned One finally lapsed into unconsciousness. In her rage, she also found the collar, and a loud bang was heard as she pulled the collar into two powerless pieces.

Zahra had to take a moment to look upon herself. What manner of huge monster had she been changed into? She knew why, but how long would this last?

Jareth's voice once again resounded in her mind as she looked at herself in bewilderment.

_I must say...you look quite handsome as a large male goblin! Or should I call you a troll?_

Now it never occured to a shocked Zahra that this was a gender shift, and she growled loudly in irritation, her angry eyes on the Barn Owl.

_Relax, precious. This effect is only temporary._

Zahra was already beginning to feel her strength diminish, an exhaustion setting in as she began to revert back to her previous goblin form. She had expected Jareth to assume his humanoid form, but he apparently opted to remain an Owl as he stared back at a groggy Zahra, who dropped to her knees before the Owl.

_Good work, servant. I think I'll go for a little free-fly while you clean up this mess, yes? Ta-ta for now...might want to find a drape right quick. Your sweet little breasts should be growing back in about now..._

Zahra glanced down. Sure enough, the manly green chest, now hairless, was beginning to puff out into a pair of mammaries. As Zahra's restoring form frantically looked around for a cloth big enough to cover herself in, the Barn Owl floated from his spot and began gliding away from the battle area.

Fortunately, Zahra found a fallen blue tapestry, which she was quick to wrap around her now-feminine body, which was once again the size of the average goblin in Jareth's menagerie. She then stepped over to where the Horned One was laying.

She could hardly believe it was her own two hands that clobbered him.

The sound of clapping interrupted the silence of the moment, and Zahra's eyes turned to gaze upon the grinning, but pained face of the armored goblin, Hax.

Hax, however, was trapped under layers of rubble from the Castle's impact with the ground. Evidence of goblin blood could be seen at the corners of his mouth.

"Y...you had...the chance...to tear h..him apart." Hax rasped. "The Labyrinth could have b...been _yours!_"

Zahra calmly walked closer to the trapped goblin. "I can't rule without him, Hax." The Goblin Queen calmly admitted aloud. She then turned her head to the hallway Jareth escaped through. "Love him or hate him, he's the reason I'm here."

Hax then gestured to the wreckage around him with flails of his weakened arms. "C..can't you...you know...'crystal' me out of this?"

Zahra tilted her head curiously.

"Why?" Zahra then asked. "You want him dead, I want him alive. My reasons are my own, and I won't have you dog my steps any further." She then heard a familiar moan nearby. It sounded like the Horned One was stirring at long last.

Zahra smiled, gesturing to the minotaur. "Why don't you ask the _cow_ to help you out of there, Hax?"

The Goblin Queen couldn't help but giggle with satisfaction as he left the trapped goblin alone with the gradually-moving, brown-furred beast. She ignored Hax's wild cries of protest as she distanced herself from him.

She couldn't help but wonder how long the battle between them would last.

* * *

"CLEANEEEERRRRS!"

Such was the alarmed cry that went up from a recovering goblin guard as he viewed the horizon, and saw the strange metallic shapes with the whirling blades and corkscrews...among other wicked implements embedded within the smooth steel surfaces...speeding towards them.

Behind each of the Cleaner constructs were pairs of operators revolving wheel-based gears with their feet, and those feet mostly belonged to the Junk People. A far more prominent Cleaner construct...which was in the lead...had a dwarf and a Junk Lady keeping the gears behind it moving, and a Cleaner to their left was partially operated by the goblin who designed them all. The goblin who had allied with Sir Hoggle.

The goblin called Hob.

Some of the operators of the Cleaner constructs had also opted to make use of whatever odds and ends they could in the impromptu assault. Their initial foray to the vicinity of where the Goblin Castle had hovered was a kind of reconnaisance visit. Following this would have been a meeting to figure out how to bring the Castle to the ground.

They didn't expect, however, that the Castle would suddenly drop to the ground moments after their arrival. In the confusion of the moment, however, Hoggle barked out the order to charge as loud as he could.

Sworn to the dwarf's cause, the Cleaner constructs came to life, and the battle was on.

Some of the goblin masses in the ruins of the castle courtyard stood their ground, but many other less-stalwart goblins opted for retreat at the very sight of the approaching Cleaners, dropping their weapons and fleeing into the goblin landscape around them.

One of the Junk People judged himself close enough to cast one of the group's many improvised weapons, which was a vial of a thick, and very familiar-looking liquid. The vial sailed right into the courtyard and smashed upon the ground, its contents forming a patch of the gurgling, spitting muck that was once a part of the Bog of Eternal Stench. Goblins surrounding it began to backtrack...

...and then _another _vial of the Bog's muck shattered upon the back of one of the goblins, the stench filling the noses of this large group of goblins that now scrambled to get away from the affected goblin, and about three or four of them stumbling into the muck patch that was obnoxiously murmuring on the ground. Others were of course affected by droplets spat out of the muck patch on the ground. About 25% of the intact goblin guardforce was routed in this manner.

The rest tried to hold their ground as the Cleaner vehicles finally rolled onto the grounds of the fallen Castle, but some of these even dropped their weapons and ran, not wanting to be diced up by the wicked blades spinning and twirling about upon the steel surfaces.

One of the Cleaners, however, was suddenly struck by a cannonball moments after it rolled onto the courtyard grounds, a loud boom preceding its impact.

Hoggle was the first to hear this, and his head turned to see a familiar sight: three goblins who were wearing suits of heavy armor, each of them equipped with a tank cannon!

These looked a little more sturdy than the "tank suits" the goblins employed twenty years ago, and glancing over at the unfortunate Cleaner that had been hit and knocked out of the fight, their cannonballs were lethal. The pair of Junk People were alive, but the Cleaner was an unusable wreck.

"SPLIT UP!" Hoggle called out, and the remaining Cleaner constructs scattered, attempting to somehow get their vehicles into a position where they could strike the Tanks from the rear.

The Tanks, however, managed to knock three of the five remaining Cleaners out of the fight with cannon blasts. Only Hob's Cleaner, and Hoggle's Cleaner remained intact, and the Tanks were still fully functional.

But then, a familiar moan filled the air as one of the Tanks was hefted up from the ground. As the Tank next to this one maneuvered its cannon to face the Rock Troll, a _huge_ boulder crashed down upon the Tank from above, crushing it completely.

The third Tank operator, who happened to be a veteran of the Goblin City battle twenty years ago against Sarah Williams and her friends, knew that fighting Ludo was futile if the beast had control of rocks big enough to pulverize tanks, and the goblin attempted a retreat that was slowed significantly by the weight of the tank-suit. His gibbering and whimpering could be heard from within the armor, though.

Ludo slammed the Tank down upon the ground as hard as he could, and the mechanisms within the tank-suit sparked and banged. The threat of the tanks was finally put to rest.

The sound of snarling, barking wolves, however, filled the air shortly after Ludo defeated the Tank he had lifted. A sign that the mounted guards were on their way over.

All eyes turned to Hoggle, who produced a single whistle. He gave the silver instrument...which was once just another item in a Junk Person's pack...a loud and clear toot.

Just as the wolves and their riders came into view within the courtyard, there was the loud sizzle of six flaming surges streaming into the skies above the Castle, each of these surges exploding into flowery bursts of colored flame.

And the colors matched the furry pelts on the bodies of the Fire Gang.

As the Fireys drifted down into sections of the ruined courtyard, a single rider slowly padded up between the two remaining Cleaners. He was armed with an enchanted lance, which he held out in salute as Ambrosius stopped just before the line of mounted goblins.

The one-eyed Fox Terrier stared the middle rider down. "Hello! My name is Sir Vulpius Didymus!"

"You'll go no farther!" The mounted goblin then growled. He then shoved his own lance forward threateningly towards the furry knight. "Prepare to _die!_"

But the moment the goblin began to move forward, the sheepdog seized the initiative and charged. The lance of the Fox Terrier took the goblin rider right off the angry wolf.

Hoggle looked over to Hob. "LET'S GO!"

Hob nodded in recognition, and the Cleaners were once again moving. Another rider chose to chase Sir Didymus while the rest tried to distance themselves from the moving Cleaner constructs.

It was a flurry of movement upon the ground as each side jockeyed for positions in the battle between the remaining mounted goblins...of which there were seven...and the teaming of Sir Didymus and Hoggle's remaining two Cleaners.

But Hoggle's team, for this new melee, had an additional advantage that hastened the defeat of the remaining goblin guardforce, and the wild-haired Fireys had joined the fray for the multitude of distractions that were to follow.

Mounted goblin 2 managed to get into position behind Hob's Cleaner to attempt a charge, but a Firey settled in front of the wolf mount and kicked a flash of flame right in front of the beast's eyes, blinding and startling it. A charge from Sir Didymus then unseated him.

Mounted goblin 3 found it difficult to function at all given the two Fireys that were trying to pull the gibbering, armored snitling's head off. They managed to get the mount off the wolf, after which he was chased away from the courtyard grounds.

Mounted goblin 4 tried to convince his terrified steed to "stop and face imminent death bravely", given the fact that the blades of Hoggle's pursuing Cleaner construct...which was directly behind them...was within inches of touching the lupine mount, but the boggle-eyed wolf wasn't about to comply with his mad mount's wishes, and was cleanly routed.

Mounted goblin 5 seized the opportunity to nail Hoggle's cleaner from behind, but a side charge from Sir Didymus unseated him. The wolf turned to angrily face Ambrosius, but the much more brave dog barked and growled so viciously, the wolf chose retreat, since the intimidation attempt was not working.

Mounted goblin 6 _almost _unseated Sir Didymus in a charge, but another two Fireys interrupted the jousting and ignited a double circle of fire around the mounted goblin. "Show us ya moves!" One of the Fireys screeched out, and the wolf went to his hind legs in fear of the flames, sending the goblin rider to the ground. Both goblin and mount fled the courtyard once they leaped out of the circle.

Mounted goblin 7, seeing the numbers of his comrades diminish, turned his mount towards the inner gates of the Castle, and called out to the goblins stationed there.

"GET MEGGA TO THE GATES!" He cried out. "PUT HIM IN THE HUMONGOUS ARMOR!"

Moments later, a _huge_, ugly-looking, brown-skinned troll was dragged at the neck by eight goblin guards to stand between the inner gates, which...like Megga himself...was approximately twenty-five to thirty feet in size. As "Megga" closed the distance to where he was to stand, the inner gates began to close. Upon both halves of these inner gates were two halves of what looked to be a suit of frightening-looking armor. As the misshapen, angry-looking troll stepped into his place, the armor halves closed around him. The click of automatic locks held the armor to the beast, and with loud tromps of metal foot coverings, Megga-Humongous stepped forth to face the intruders.

And the first intruder the giant beast spotted was Sir Didymus.

Hob, however, was the first to catch sight of Megga-Humongous tromping into position...and having been part of the design team that created the armor in the first place, he knew what the armor was capable of...

...and when the armored troll rose an arm, the wrist of which was now surrounded with bullet-firing gunbarrels, Hob knew exactly what to do.

Maneuvering the Cleaner as fast as he and his partner could, the metal surface skidded behind Ambrosius just as Megga-Humongous began firing. The rain of rapid-fire bullets banged harmlessly off the steel surface, leaving Didymus and Ambrosius unaffected by the barrage.

Hoggle spotted this moment of bravery and brought his Cleaner construct to life, joining in the effort to keep Sir Didymus and Ambrosius protected from the rapid-fire blasts at the wrists of the Megga-Humongous.

The Fireys gathered together behind the large armored beast to apply another of their acts of fire-based trickery: realizing that a flesh creature was within the armor suit, they concentrated their affinity to fire and heat upon the armor itself, hoping to cook Megga within his own suit.

Unfortunately, this had the effect of enraging Megga further, and the troll launched himself up a few feet in a stationary leap despite his armor being red hot. Megga then brought both his fists...and all of his mass...down upon the ground to create a jarring shockwave which sent the Fire Gang scattering back, their concentration broken. Hob's Cleaner construct teetered to the side and stopped, spilling the operators to the ground, while Hoggle's Cleaner was able to stay upright. Sir Didymus and Ambrosius were also able to stay on their feet, although Didymus nearly slipped off his loyal mount with the force of the shockwave.

Megga-Humongous again rose an arm...but this time, it was aiming for Hob and his Junk Man partner.

Hob, seeing this, and hearing the loading clicks of the weapon, crawled over to his unconscious partner and covered his body, hoping to protect him from most of the barrage of bullets that were to follow. Hob then closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable...

...only to hear clanging and ricochets as Hoggle's Cleaner skidded in front of the spilled construct. The dwarf glanced back to Hob and gave him a wink.

Sir Didymus and Ambrosius joined the group behind Hoggle's Cleaner as Megga howled in frustration. "If only there was _some _way of hurting that thing!" Hoggle lamented.

"Fear not, brother!" Didymus assured. "No matter how vile the juggernaut, there _must_ be a weakness!"

"Well, we can't really go and ask whoever created the darn thing where that weakness _is_, can we?" Hoggle griped, glancing over to the armored guardian from behind his construct.

They then heard another furious roar from the armored beast, followed by another barrage of bullets from the whirling wrist cannons.

It then came to Hob. The logic of getting the troll back out of the armor after a major emergency was averted. And it was Hob himself who had brought up the logic, which compelled the goblins to apply the means of getting the troll out.

But Hob realized that to do this, there was a major risk involved. Nevertheless, it was their only chance.

The smiling goblin then looked to Hoggle. "No...but you can ask me how to get Megga _out _of that thing!"

Hoggle frowned in confusion as all eyes turned to Hob. "Megga?"

"That thing is a suit of armor!" Hob revealed. "There's a dumb ol' troll in there. His name's Megga. We'd stand more of a chance of beating him if we got him out of the Humongous armor."

"And thou art _learned _in the means of releasing him?" Didymus asked, a stray shot zinging close to his head.

"I should hope so...I was on the design team that _built _the darn thing!" Hob replied.

They all heard the wrist guns fire again...but this time, it was firing in a different direction. The wild gibbering sounds of the Fire Gang could be heard as they scattered in an effort to avoid the barrage.

"So what's da secret?" Hob's recovering Junk Man partner asked.

"That's gonna be the tough part. It's why we built a scaffolding just to get Megga out." Hob explained. "The idea is to hit a bunch of buttons at the same time, unlocking all five portions of the armor. They're all on the back of the torso section, too."

"So we'd have to get behind it...and _climb _to the back, and press those buttons at the _same time?_" Hoggle incredulously assessed. "Maybe if we maneuvered him to that scaffolding..."

"It's probably a wreck now." Hob surmised. "Remember...the Castle came down hard, and that scaffolding wasn't very sturdy."

"It's gonna be tough ta even get behind dat thing." The Junk Man noted. "He'll see us comin'...an' den he'll stitch us all up good!"

Sir Didymus, who had been glancing over to where Megga-Humongous had been firing out of concern for his Firey allies, then noticed that the armored beast was now looking in a new direction, and was already bringing his arm up to fire away at them. Perhaps the Fireys had split up?

But Hoggle's team now heard a new, unfamiliar voice, the tone of which the dwarf surmised belonged to a Sidhe. "Watch out!"

The frightened whinnies of a group of horses could then be heard as Megga-Humongous once again fired its wrist cannons. The hoofbeats of the horses were headed in their direction as they rode.

Sir Didymus, however, caught sight of them. "It's a group of Sidhe soldiers!"

"Get them over here!" Hoggle remarked. He knew that if they had even one Sidhe to help them, it would be a welcome respite from their current situation.

Didymus rode out quickly, spotting the group of six horse-bound soldiers, and signalled them over to where Hoggle's group was waiting for them. With Megga's guns once again diverted to the Fireys, the apparent leader of the Sidhe group dismounted his beautiful-looking stallion and hurried over to Hoggle and his friends.

"Which one of you is Hoggle?" The Sidhe soldier quickly asked, getting right down to business.

"I'm Hoggle." The dwarf confirmed. "Did Lord Fjord send you?"

"No. We're guardians of the High Chamberlain, although your dwarf lord is with him. They're not far from here." The Sidhe reported. "Captain Riegall, Sword-Master of the 8th Seelie Regiment, at your service."

"We've got a little job for you guys." Hoggle remarked.

"Figured you would." Riegall replied. "I fancy it has to do with bringing that..._thing _down?"

Hoggle nodded. "Our goblin friend here will tell you what you'll need to do."

But Riegall's expression darkened a bit at the sight of the goblin. He had to turn Hoggle around and confide with him. "You're placing trust in this Unseelie filth?" He quietly hissed.

Hoggle sighed. "This 'filth' was once a human boy, Captain." He hissed back. "He's been helping us since we met him!"

Riegall blinked. Fortunately, he knew that there were pure goblins, and that there were goblins who were once stolen human children as per the wicked magic of the current Goblin King. The Sidhe Captain turned back to Hob. "Forgive me. I was not aware you were of human birth."

Hob shrugged. "Apology accepted."

He then began explaining the means by which they could hopefully stop Megga-Humongous, who was now attempting to blast away at the other five Sidhe riders who were using their enchanted shields to deflect its barrages.

"What do these buttons look like, Hob?" Riegall asked.

"Blue squares. You can't miss 'em." Hob replied.

Riegall nodded once. "Right. I'm on it." He then turned to Hoggle as he moved towards his stallion. "I'll have my men help keep you safe, Hoggle!"

"Done deal, Captain!" Hoggle then turned to the others. "Okay! Let's get moving!"

With the other Sidhe soldiers sufficiently providing protective diversion, Hoggle's group was able to get the other Cleaner construct upright and mobile. Sir Didymus, and the two Cleaner constructs, then moved to assist the Sidhe soldiers as Captain Riegall began his approach to the rear of the armored guardian.

The operators of the Cleaner constructs frantically worked to keep both Sir Didymus and his Fire Gang friends protected. At one point, it seemed that one of the barrages had struck a Firey right in his head, taking it right off of its furry body...

...but the fully-intact head then bounced right back onto the stump.

In the next moment, just as the Sidhe Captain was in position to step onto the back of his mighty stallion and jump onto a leg of the Megga-Humongous, the armor of the guardian's right arm suddenly slid down and off of the beast!

Riegall looked up curiously...and saw that a pair of the Fireys were already up on the armored monster's back, gibbering with glee at its apparent stroke of luck! "Hey! Come on up!" The Firey screeched. "Show us ya moves!"

And what moves they were! The agile Sidhe soldier made his leap to the right leg of the armor and began scaling in an almost effortless manner up to the back, impressing even the Fireys. Megga was still staring down at his now un-armored arm, and he reached down to pick up the fallen armpiece...

...only to feel the other armpiece slip off as well. Angrily, Megga once again opted to try and leap in an effort to shake off the creatures that were now on his back...

...but he found himself leaping out of _both_ of the Humongous armor's legpieces! In Megga's surprise, he stumbled forward and landed face-first on the ground. The arms and hands of the Fireys were able to hang on, as did Captain Riegall. Once Megga was down, the final buttons were pressed, and the headpiece of the armor popped right off, revealing a long-haired ruin of a troll face that was quite disgusting to look at.

Cheers went up from Hoggle's group, and the Captain's men. The teeth of the armored guardian had finally been pulled.

Although the fleshy guardian himself remained, and with a roar of rage, he began to rise back up. Riegall still hung to his chestpiece, which remained on the troll's body, looking like a metal tabard.

The Junk Woman...Hoggle's Cleaner partner...stared up at the troll's horrible-looking face, and couldn't resist making the observation. "And I thought _you _were ugly!" She remarked to Hoggle.

The giant troll took one angry step forward...

...and then collapsed to one knee. It seemed to be getting groggy. A large hand went to his head, which shook as if he were trying to clear it of cobwebs.

Or a magical effect.

Whatever it was proved too much for the massive creature's mind, and Megga once again collapsed forward, this time lapsing into a deep slumber.

The fight was finally, completely, finished. Sighs of relief were heaved out as the victorious groups...the Sidhe soldiers, and Hoggle's band...formed up near Megga's sleeping body.

"Full of surprises, aren't you?" Hoggle observed.

Captain Riegall blinked. "Begging your pardon, Master dwarf...all I did was hang to the creature's back. I couldn't do anything other than that!"

"Thy High Chamberlain, perchance?" Didymus guessed.

One of the other soldiers shook his head. "No. Too far to cast such a spell on a creature this big."

Hoggle then frowned. "Then who could have...?"

In the silence of their confusion, all that could be heard was the distinct hoots of an Owl, not too far from where they were all standing.

* * *

Zahra made her way through the ruins of the Castle. She moved quickly, hoping the damage from the fall didn't claim the life of the young Seelie prize she had opted to use as a means to lure her friends to the now-grounded Castle of the Goblin King.

The new Goblin Queen also hoped that Cerenede was able to pick up on the unique ability the collar provided the Sidhe girl with. The means to mentally communicate with any one of Zahra's friends. As she moved to find her, she heard voices on the ground outside that were entirely familiar to her, and she feared for their safety as they suddenly found themselves face to face with a huge armored monstrosity that may have been the same beast who needed Hax's code phrase to be able to pass. Sounds of violent gunfire and roars of rage could be heard as Zahra made her way to the room she had locked Cerenede in.

The door to the room was broken when she found it, and Zahra feared the worst as she moved into it.

The entire room was a darkened ruin...but Zahra was able to hear ragged breathing sounds, and the whimpers of a young girl. The goblin digged around as thoroughly as she possibly could before she finally spotted movement, and a length of blond hair.

A bloodied hand, however, belonging to a child, then poked through the rubble, accompanied by another pained groan.

Zahra carefully dug through the rubble around the hand, and she was finally able to uncover the upper body of Cerenede, who looked quite badly hurt and was breathing ragged breaths.

Fearing for her life, Zahra found that Cerenede was trapped beneath large portions of rubble that was impossible for a goblin-sized creature to move. She had a brief urge to call for Jareth, but Zahra had a feeling that might not work, given Cerenede's Seelie nature.

Zahra brushed away the dust and soil on the child's face as she looked down upon her. The grimace on the Sidhe girl's face dissolved to a strangely satisfied one, and a slight smile played on her face.

"I...I found...you..." Cerenede whispered. "I f...finally...found you..."

"Shhh...don't try to talk, sweetheart." Zahra gently remarked. "I've got to figure out a way to get you out of this."

Unexpectedly, the Goblin Queen then heard Jareth's voice in her mind.

_What makes you think YOU can't do it, precious?_

Zahra's eyes squinted shut in anger, her shark's teeth clenched in irritation. "NOT A WORD OUT OF YOU, JARETH!" she screamed out. Cerenede gasped in surprise.

The Goblin Queen blinked, glancing apologetically back at the trapped Sidhe girl. "Oh...sorry, sweetheart." Zahra then gestured to her own head. "He's being a pest."

Cerenede smiled sweetly. "Beau...ti...ful...hummm...man..."

The Sidhe girl then slowly closed her eyes. Zahra's green hands flew to her mouth as tears began to form in her large eyes. "No...!" She whispered in disbelief.

"Poor dear."

The fiery voice was unmistakable. And it came from the wreckage of the door. Anger in her eyes, Zahra stalwartly stepped in front of Cerenede as the Horned One, axe in hand, clopped into the room with heavy steps.

"It doesn't seem fair, does it, Goblin Queen?" The minotaur gloated. "Still...your acts of courage should be rewarded...so I shall share my little secret with you before you die."

As he spoke these words, the bull-headed beast's form once again began to shift and mutate until a slender, sharp-faced man stood in the beast's place. By the time this man finished his sentence, the very Sidhe who had condemned Zahra to the life of a goblin stood smiling before the small green creature that was once a beautiful human.

"_Angaron!_" Zahra hissed, her voice filled with deep loathing. "I should have _known_ you and the Horned One were one and the same."

"Just makes you want to wipe me out with that little gift I gave you, eh?" Angaron mused. "By the way...where _are_ your all-powerful crystals, hmm?"

Zahra kept quiet, fixing her angry gaze on the gloating Sidhe.

Angaron then began to pat around his body, as if looking for them somewhere on his person. "They must be around here somewhere..." Zahra then saw the globes slip around his arms from behind him, seeming to roll right into his palms as Angaron affected a look of surprise. "Ahh! _There _they are! Oh, Jareth did enjoy these little trinkets...the very heart of his great magic power! Aside from that _other _item he stole from me, the one resting on his head..."

Zahra then saw a shadow by the door behind Angaron move. The veiled presence briefly revealed its face to Zahra, giving a nod of acknowledgement.

"...I bet you want them back, eh? Jareth's crystals? Which _I _made for him?" Angaron noted, clearly relishing the moment as he began to manipulate the crystals in a manner Jareth himself demonstrated to Sarah Williams, in her bedroom, twenty years ago when she first met him. "Funny thing about goblins like him...he needed a focus for his magic powers. Had to come to me, the miserable little snitling. He may not need them anymore, but...well, I fancy you just haven't figured out how to attune them to _yourself_, eh?"

Zahra was then given another mental message as she continued to guard Cerenede, and as Angaron kept gloating. The message alarmed her, but she maintained her expression.

"Well, you won't be needing these anymore, my little green wench." Angaron then tossed the crystals up, and as they reached the maximum height of the Sidhe traitor's toss, he spoke a single word in a sharp tone. "_Shattershard!_"

With a loud bang, both crystals then exploded into a shower of tiny glass flakes, which cascaded to the ground like a snow flurry.

Angaron expected a reaction from Zahra, but her defiant expression did not change, nor did it flinch in any way. With a smirk, he reached down to retrieve his axe, his muscles bulging once more as his fair skin grew a thick hide of brown fur, large horns bursting from his forehead, and a bull's muzzle pushing out from his face. His Sidhe ears flopped over, forming a pair of bovine ears as Angaron the minotaur fixed his angry gaze back on the Goblin Queen, who continued to show no manner of intimidation.

"You may not be able to appeal for your own life any further, snitling." Angaron growled, in his fiery voice. "But I will allow you to do so for the Sidhe girl."

Zahra blinked. It had of course occurred to her that the girl had passed away, but it then occurred to her that this was a Sidhe, and not a mortal girl. The Goblin Queen tilted her head curiously.

"In the opening act of your deceptive little farce with me, you went to the ground and licked my hoof." Angaron's eyes narrowed, a devious smile on his muzzle. "I should like to see you do it again. Right _now_."

Zahra's goblin face wrinkled in disgust. "You sick monster." She hissed.

"I want you to beg for her life, as well." Angaron then added. "If we leave her like this, she will continue to fade. She is already dangerously close to death, and I am the only one strong enough to free her."

Zahra's eyebrow raised. "Are you?"

The Goblin Queen then smiled, and raised her small green hands.

In the next moment, a pair of clear crystals slipped up to her hands from behind her, and now it was Zahra performing the hypnotic juggling of the clear orbs.

Angaron's eyes widened in shock. "How...how could you..._when _could you have possibly attuned yourself?"

"I didn't." was Zahra's reply. "_He _did."

The little goblin then cast one of the globes down at Cerenede's motionless form, and the room began to collapse around her. Angaron, still lost to his shock, fell alongside the falling rubble, his body smacking painfully into debris as he went down.

Two figures remained in the sky. One was Zahra. The other, surrounded by what looked to be an airborne, stationary bubble, was Cerenede.

The rays of the outdoor sun finally hit her, and the little Sidhe girl's eyes fluttered open once more. Crossing her young arms in front of her, she began to concentrate her healing energies as she felt her body slowly float down alongside Zahra, who was also gently descending.

Hoggle's group, and their Sidhe allies under Captain Riegall, gazed in awe as they watched the two small airborne figures lower to their level.

Riegall frowned at the sight of the lowering figures. "Is that...goblin sorceress..._saving _that Sidhe girl?"

"That's no goblin, Captain." Hoggle remarked. "That's the Champion of the Labyrinth."


	34. Chapter 34: The Babe With The Power

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 35...the next installment...will close out our story. :)**

* * *

Hoggle and Sir Didymus were quick to move to where Zahra and Cerenede settled upon the ground. Ambrosius padded his mount to the Sidhe girl, while Hoggle was quick to reunite with his old friend.

But his old friend turned away from Hoggle, shocked to have spotted him, and entirely hesitant to see his reaction to her new appearance.

Once Didymus dismounted from the sheepdog, Ambrosius barked happily as he raised up on his hind legs and settled his front paws on Cerenede's shoulders, the Sidhe girl once again back on her feet after carefully rising. The sheepdog then began licking at Cerenede's face as the little Sidhe giggled, petting the knight's steed happily.

"Thank _goodness _thou art safe and sound!" Didymus exclaimed.

"The beautiful human _saved_ me, Sir Didymus!" Cerenede chimed happily. "I thought I would _never _make it out of that awful ruin!"

The Sidhe Captain and his men then moved to see to the Sidhe girl, and since she was fully recovered, she immediately administered her healing powers to any wounds incurred by Megga-Humongous during the courtyard battle.

Hoggle lowered his head, misinterpreting Zahra's reaction to the sight of him as anger. A lump formed in his throat as he spoke. "I...don't blame you for how you must feel about me, champ..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "...I wish I'd _never_ found that confounded blade."

A lump formed in Zahra's goblin throat as well as she shook her head. "No, I...I'm not angry at you..." She turned her head slightly towards Hoggle. "...I just...I don't want you to see me...like this..." Tears began to fall from Zahra's large eyes. "...please...leave me be..."

Hoggle rose his head back up, looking curiously to the ashamed Goblin Queen, and slowly approached her.

In the next moment, there was a shifting of rubble a few feet in front of Zahra.

The heads of Captain Riegall and his men began to redirect warily to where this shifting had happened...

...but Angaron was too quick...and far too enraged...for them to prevent the minotaur from surging forth with a bellow of rage, literally exploding out of the pile of rubble. In Zahra's shock, she was unable to keep the flat end of the axe from swatting her away. The Goblin Queen collided with a Castle wall and slid down, goblin blood making trails on the wall as she sank.

"NOOOOO!" Cerenede screamed, and she immediately ran over to where the motionless Zahra had landed. Hoggle followed behind the young Sidhe healer, hoping she could save the new Goblin Queen with her healing magic.

Although Angaron had been badly wounded in the fall, he was nevertheless ready to take on the many angry faces that charged upon him after he had smacked Zahra aside with his weapon. Only the Sidhe soldiers were able to linger, however, for brief moments before they had themselves been bashed away, a couple of them suffering from deep gashes inflicted by the minotaur's huge axe. Didymus was swatted, as was a snarling, barking Ambrosius, who yelped with the pain of the blow from the flat side of the axe.

Hob and the Junk Lady went to one of the Cleaner constructs and sent the whirling blades speeding towards the angry minotaur...

...but the bull-man leaped to the sky and came down with a two-handed axe chop that literally split the Cleaner in two, forcing the stumbling Junk Lady and Hob to scramble away from the raging beast.

Angaron then began running over to where Zahra had landed, the teeth in his muzzle angrily clenched...

...but a large rock suddenly landed right in front of the charging bull-man.

A _very _familiar moan followed, and another horned, hairy beast dashed at the minotaur and launched himself at him. Once again, the wounded creature was brought to the ground by the vicious and vengeful tackle.

"BE _CAREFUL, _SQUIRE!" Didymus painfully called out as he crawled over to where Ambrosius had landed.

"TEAR HIM APART, LUDO!" Hoggle yelled.

"You...go...DOOOOWN!" Ludo roared as he wrestled against the minotaur's strength. "ZAHWA _FWIEEEEND!_"

The melee between them was on. They tumbled and fired raw blows at each other as they fought, the enraged Ludo matching the bovine monstrosity in size. All eyes watched the two hairy brawlers continue their rage-fueled physical assault.

Angaron, however, managed to grab his axe as the two large beasts continued their one-on-one battle...but Ludo also grabbed the weapon, wanting to wrest it out of the bovine menace's hands.

He had, after all, once called dibs on it.

Given Angaron's wounds, it seemed that this time, Ludo would finally win the axe from the struggling minotaur, and the pain in the bovine creature's face made this seem entirely imminent...

...but then, Ludo suddenly howled in pain as a shaft of goblin steel bit into him from behind and cut deep into his body, his head arching back and his hands flailing to the sides.

Behind him, the armored goblin called Hax grinned triumphantly.

Angaron turned his gaze up to the goblin, who pulled off a chain that was around his neck and threw it aside.

"Keep that pathetic brute on the ground." The minotaur growled.

At this, Hax's own form began to mutate and grow, his goblin skin growing a pelt of black fur, and his goblin face pushing forward to form a bovine muzzle of his own. Shocked eyes watched the minotaur that was once an armored goblin place a hoof over Ludo's head and press down.

Of all the horrified eyes, those of Hoggle were particularly aghast. He recognized Hax. The crafty little fiend had bargained for his life during Angaron's quest. Hax, holding up his end of the bargain, had guided them to the cave where the Proba-Brand was hidden, and Angaron had assured Hoggle that he had disposed of the goblin once he had done what he was forced to do.

No doubt Hax had instead made a second bargain…one far more ominous, and far more secret…with Angaron.

"Go on, conqueror of the goblins!" Hax growled, in a fiery voice of his own. "_Finish him!_"

Angaron's axe was raised high...

"_ANGAROOOON!_"

A fully-healed Zahra stepped towards the wounded minotaur, who turned to face the frowning Goblin Queen.

"I'm not finished with you yet, _cow!_" Zahra then bellowed, shooting a green finger out at the bull-man. As Zahra anticipated, a low growl of rage could be heard from the axe-wielding minotaur.

Angaron briefly turned to Hax, pointing to Ludo's critically-wounded body. "_Kill him._" Angaron growled.

He then tromped back over with quick steps to Zahra, raising his axe. The Goblin Queen did not react to the charge, and the enraged, panting minotaur swung his double-bladed weapon in a murderous arc.

The blade connected...

...or rather, it _should _have connected. It instead swung _through _her small green body.

Zahra affected an expression of mock surprise, gasping, with both of her goblin hands going to her face. "How did _that _happen? Oh, NO! I must be a GHOST!"

And then, Zahra's voice could be heard to Angaron's left. "No! Me! Me!" The image of Zahra looked exactly the same, except she was jumping and raising her hand. "_I_ wanna be the ghost!"

And then, to Angaron's right, yet _another _voice that was Zahra's. "Or maybe _I _am the ghost."

Angaron was now seething with rage. "You _filthy_ little coward...that's not _FAIR!_" He bellowed."_SHOW YOURSELF!_"

The others were also looking around curiously. Even Hax had to hesitate. Where was the _real _Zahra?

And in that moment, Hax felt a shaft dig deep into his back, and terrible magic energies surged forth from the shaft, agonizingly wiping him from existence as he roared out one final bellow of rage. The very air around him seemed to dissolve his massive body as the Iron Winter Blade claimed yet another unfortunate Fae victim.

Now, it was Angaron's turn to be shocked. He had seen the effects of the Iron Winter Blade, but he was no longer one of the Fae folk! Hax had also forsaken his goblin heritage to become a minotaur. They were both supposed to be _immune _to the Iron Winter Blade!

Zahra, of course, was behind where Hax stood, holding the dreaded blade in her green-skinned hand. She fixed a hateful stare upon the minotaur's eyes.

Angaron couldn't help but smile wickedly in return as he began to slowly pace around Zahra. He figured he would appeal to whatever moral fiber was left in this former human. "You're becoming quite the little murderer, goblin. First, you kill an agent of the Seelie, and then you…"

"I did?"

Angaron blinked. "Don't play stupid with me, Zahra. I _saw_ Stave's body. I _smelled_ his dripping blood!"

Zahra tilted her head. "Did you touch him?"

Angaron froze in the realization of his critical error. He had been duped by an illusion he could see and smell. If only he had acted on the urge to _touch_ it...

The Goblin Queen smiled. "Oops."

She then tossed the Iron Winter Blade casually to the side…

…and it quickly sailed into Stave's hand. The black-robed assassin rolled and leaped towards Angaron to render his second attempt at a killing blow. The leap was the same as his first attempt.

Once again, the Iron Winter Blade bit into brown-furred Fae flesh...and this time, Angaron felt the terrible power of the weapon begin to horribly un-make him as he screamed to the skies. The disintegration energies ripped through every vein in his body as he began to glow from within with a bright red light, as had happened with the Impaler goblin, and Hax. The un-making effect was quite the unpleasant sight, and all in the area were paying witness to it. Some who had seen the effect before had to turn away, believing the oft-spoken legend that a Fae whose mind were consumed by banal thoughts and beliefs could actually be un-made if they merely _witnessed _someone being executed by an Iron Winter Blade.

Once Angaron was gone, Stave heaved a sigh of relief as he sheathed the blade. He also removed the remnants of his broken ceramic mask, dropping it between the hoofprints on the ground as Zahra and her friends approached him. Cerenede was already dashing over to Ludo's wounded body, hoping she would be there in time to mend his stab wound.

Fortunately, the Rock Troll did not lose too much blood, and Cerenede felt the wound begin to close as she concentrated her healing energies on him.

Stave pulled down his hood, and the face of Steven Graves looked down on the Goblin Queen. "Well-played, Zahra."

The green-skinned Queen smiled. "Looks like you finally got him, Stave."

Stave nodded. "I'm a little confused, though…I struck him before with the blade. It didn't work. I…I figured I could just…"

He then turned to Hoggle, who along with Sir Didymus paid witness to Stave's first attempt to destroy Angaron. And standing next to the dwarf was the one-eyed knight.

And judging by the looks on both their faces, Stave got the distinct impression they knew something he didn't.

And in the silence of the moment, they heard a single figure clapping a slow applause as he stepped towards them. Someone each and every person in the area recognized.

Jareth was smiling, in his typically sly fashion, as he stepped towards Zahra. "And I thought you'd cry out for my aid. Actually lost a bet, too. I assured Hagatha that at some point, I'd hear you say 'that's not fair' at least _once_. Obviously, it was a mistake for me to assume you would never change."

Zahra smirked. "Take one good look at me, Jareth. Do I _look_ like I've never changed?"

Jareth nodded. "Indeed, servant. You have done very well." With the flick of his hand, he then threw a peach to the little goblin. "There you go. You've earned it."

But when Zahra caught it, she restored its original crystal shape, and began rolling it around in her hands. Just as Jareth did when he first confronted Sarah Williams.

Jareth's eyebrow arched. He had figured Zahra had been crusading on his behalf. Now, it seemed all this "Goblin Queen" stuff was getting to her head. No doubt she wasn't going to turn the labyrinth realm back over to him so easily.

"Oh, that's right. You've got everyone around you doing the 'your Highness' thing." Jareth remarked in an amused tone. "Well, that's fine…we can play the civil war game, precious. As you can see, I'm fully res…"

"Take it off, Jareth."

The Goblin King blinked in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"I think the Goblin Queen has earned the right to see your true face, Jareth." Stave calmly remarked, stepping behind Zahra in support of her desire.

Hoggle also stepped behind Zahra. "I agree."

Sir Didymus joined his knightly brother. "As do I."

Cerenede and a fully-healed Ludo also stepped over behind Zahra. "Me too." Ludo growled.

Captain Riegall and his Sidhe soldiers followed suit, stepping behind the Goblin Queen in support of her want, as did Hob and the Junk Lady. The rest of her people...all of whom survived the battle...joined the Junk Lady behind Zahra.

And then, goblins that had survived the fall of the Castle began stepping into the area. Hundreds of them. They all began to fill the remaining space behind Zahra as Jareth's smirking expression began to melt to one of apparently grave concern.

Only one goblin hurried over to where Jareth was standing, and she already had a scowl on her wrinkled face. Hagatha shot a gnarled finger to Zahra. "How _dare _you try and usurp your master, spoiled Princess! You are a _servant _of the Goblin King and you will resume your prop…"

Jareth shot an entirely vicious look to Hagatha. It was enough to make the nasty old goblin visibly cringe where she stood. "Um…f..forgive me, milord…I'll just…um…get behind thee…" She smiled meekly as she stepped behind Jareth's legs.

Jareth calmly looked back over to Zahra. A long moment of indecisive silence followed. Zahra's expression never changed, and no one said a word.

But there was no escaping this moment. Ever since the caper he enjoyed alongside the Lady Vestrie when they stole the Vanity wig, he figured the magic artifact would never leave his head.

Yet he had once sang of being judged by this illusionary visage, and not being accepted for what he truly was. So much time had passed since he had entertained those thoughts, and he never imagined that there was a chance he could look upon his own people as kindred spirits…in appearance, as well as in nature…rather than insignificant, disposable lackeys.

It also seemed apparent that Zahra had found acceptance in what she had become. She was not lamenting or complaining over her appearance. Never once did she want to go back to being the human she used to be, if it could ever be possible for her to be restored.

And judging by the overwhelming support the goblins were giving her at this moment, it was clear the goblins of the labyrinth domain wanted a pure goblin…and not an illusion…ruling them.

Jareth lowered his head, his eyes closed, as he quietly contemplated all this.

"Vestrie won't accept you for what you really are, Jareth." Zahra stepped forward towards the Goblin King, looking up at him. "But I can, if you'll let me."

Jareth's eyes opened, centering on those of the ordained Goblin Queen below. In that moment, he finally, directly, asked the one question he had never directly spoke unto the Champion of the Labyrinth.

"Do you love me, Zahra?" He lowered to one knee. "Will you love me, no matter who, or what I am?"

Zahra's eyes locked on Jareth's. There was no denying the sincerity of her answer. "Yes."

Jareth slowly nodded. "Prove it." He then remarked, and with a flip of his gloved hand, he produced a beautiful gold ring. "Marry me."

There was no denying the sincerity of Zahra's answer to this, as well.

"No."

Jareth hung his head in frustration, sighing. But he knew why as he brought his head back up, and a pained expression was on his face. "You _really _want me to do this, don't you?"

"Not just for me." Zahra replied. "For your kin. Jareth, I know everything. You're a _goblin_. Just like _I _am now. You have no idea how many people in the world above fall in love with falsehoods. I can't marry you knowing you keep hiding behind an image that isn't _you!_"

"I can't just…dispose of this, Zahra!" Jareth protested. "What if someone wants to wish for us to take another baby away? I have…well…a _reputation _to keep!"

Zahra smiled. "I never said anything about _disposing_ of the wig, Jareth."

"And it's not like you have to worry about the creator wanting it back." Stave then added.

And this was reassurance enough for the Goblin King to consider the notion of ending the charade after over twenty years of deception. His gloved hands slowly went up to his head as Hagatha stepped away from her master, her eyes wide. She never imagined he could ever be convinced into doing this.

With a generous pull, the wild hair on Jareth's head finally moved, its wearer intending for the item to be removed, and therefore responding to the wearer's wishes.

Jareth lowered his head as Vanity, at long last, slipped away from the skin over the Goblin King's cranium. He already felt his ears grow and angle to the sides. He had to close his eyes as Jareth felt his tall visage diminish significantly. He feared whatever repercussions this move might cost him as his skin color dissolved from its Sidhe-like complexion to its native green appearance.

And all those who had ever seen the large painting in Jareth's private quarters could no longer assume that it was Jareth's father, as had been the assumption, but rather Jareth himself, in his natural goblin form.

And it was this goblin form that now stood in front of Zahra, the Goblin Queen.

Jareth let Vanity slip from his small green hand as he slowly brought his goblin head up to meet Zahra's gaze. He first observed that the two of them were the exact same height as goblins, and that he somehow found Zahra so much more attractive.

Zahra, having seen the painting in Jareth's quarters, quietly observed that for a male goblin, Jareth did not look that much different in facial features from the visage Vanity gave him. Granted, the nose was a little bigger, but she could still see traces of the illusionary form Jareth had held as his own up until this incredible moment, and every other face was astonished to see the true form of the Goblin King at long last.

"I must look horrible, don't I?" Jareth asked, his deliciously devious and mysterious tone unaltered by the restoration. "Be honest, precious."

Zahra, however, was smiling. "I don't feel any differently about you at all, Jareth."

Jareth the goblin blinked at this. "So…you still love me?"

Zahra nodded slowly. "I do." And with a flip of her own goblin hand, she produced an even more beautiful-looking ring than the one Jareth made. "And I intend to prove it by marrying you."

Jareth, however, frowned at this. "No, _no!_" He then snatched the ring, startling Zahra. "I _insist _that I, the Goblin King, be the one to make the proposal!" He then fired a green finger to the Goblin Queen. "You are, after all, the _two-time_ Champion of the Labyrinth!"

Zahra couldn't help but be entirely surprised by this admission, and she had a brief urge to ask what he meant…but her comprehension of his statement set in quickly.

The secret door was Vanity, after all, and she had passed through it.

And behind that door was her prize.

Jareth's heart.

In the next moment, however, Vanity suddenly slipped along the ground and flew in a direction to the right of where Zahra and Jareth were standing.

It remained airborne until it was grabbed by a slender, feminine hand belonging to a blond Sidhe noblewoman sitting on the back of a unicorn that had once been a human girl.

"So you're giving up your handsome days, eh, snitling?" the Lady Vestrie mused. "Maybe Zahra is right. Maybe you _deserve _to be just as ugly as she is now!"

"She loves me for what I _really _am!" Jareth defiantly cried out. "Unlike _you!_"

"I think I'll hold on to this. I'll even assure you that it will _not _be destroyed." Vestrie remarked, her tone ice-cold. "Far more satisfying, after all, to wait for the day when you'll come before me and _beg _for me to place it back on your head." She then looked over to Cerenede. "You! Servant! Hurry on over, girl! We are _leaving_ this accursed place!"

"If I may correct milady Vestrie…" Cerenede cordially replied. "…_you _are leaving this place, so that I may remain with the beautiful human and her friends."

"Are you _daft_, girl?" Vestrie exclaimed, aghast at her decision. "That's not a beautiful human! That's an ugly, disgusting Unseelie _goblin!_"

Cerenede's cordial expression did not change. "Zahra will always be the beautiful human to me, milady Vestrie."

Vestrie's expression wrinkled with disgust. Not only was she losing an Unseelie asset, she was also losing a servant. These losses, however, she was prepared to accept as an even trade for having taken Vanity away from Jareth. Never again would he be the handsome Prince. He would spent the rest of his existence as the green-skinned snitling he had been born as.

She was already looking forward to the day when he would come back to her and beg. Just so she could cruelly refuse him. Every time he tried.

Vestrie held out Vanity with a strong grip, and a sly smile on her face, her eyes on the Goblin King. "Perhaps you want to beg for it _now_, Goblin King?"

In the silence that followed, Jareth's eyes lingered on the magic item that had once been on his head, maintaining the handsome, irresistable illusion that had given him so many political advantages in the great game of maneuvering between the Seelie and the Unseelie. He really did feel bad about shoving them all aside. It had been a great deal of wicked fun for him.

A part of him didn't want it to end.

Jareth began approaching Vestrie, much to Zahra's shock. He took a few steps…and then stopped.

"Get out of my labyrinth." Jareth intoned, his voice firm and resolute. "You _bitch_."

Vestrie's eyes now flashed with rage. She raised a hand to lash out with violent magical fury…

…but she then felt a blade touch at the side of her throat. She first thought that an agent of the Iron Shadow had been sent, but if it were an Iron Winter Blade at her throat, she would be un-made. Her head turned…but the man seated on the stallion that teleported right next to her was far worse than an agent of the Iron Shadow.

It was the High Chamberlain. The tip of an enchanted, beautiful-looking longsword was at Vestrie's throat.

"Like the Goblin King said." The High Chamberlain calmly remarked. "_Get out._"

The dwarven Lord Fjord, sitting on the back of a large Mountain Lion, padded up to Vestrie's other flank, but looked to where Zahra and Jareth were standing. "We'll make sure this wily lass stays out of ye business, lads." He then looked to Hoggle. "Ah don't suppose ye could take a leave o' absence on the 'morrow morn, Hoggle? I have a wish ta grant ye, after all."

"Aye, milord." Hoggle assured. "I'll be there."

The High Chamberlain signalled for his escort, and Captain Riegall patted upon his stallion's neck, signalling to move. His brave men followed suit.

The Captain rode over to Zahra and Jareth, smiling down upon them. "I must say, you look rather nice together." He then looked to Hoggle and gave him a respectful salute before joining his men near the High Chamberlain. They then began riding away from the ruins of the Castle, all of them keeping a wary eye on the Lady Vestrie.

"Fine men, those soldiers." Hoggle observed.

"Agreed, brother." Sir Didymus added.

"Your dwarven friend seemed rather nice as well, Sir Hoggle!" Cerenede observed, smiling.

"Aye." Hoggle replied. "I'm glad I was able to make a better King of him."

Jareth let out a loud sigh in irritation. "Oh, _bother! _All this sick sentimentality! Are we all _finished? _I have some very important business to settle right here and right now!"

Zahra turned to Jareth. "What kind of business, my love?"

The Goblin King then dropped to a knee before Zahra, and looked up to her with a yearning gaze. He held out the beautiful ring Zahra had created as he spoke.

"Will you please marry me, my Queen?"

A smile slowly formed on Zahra's lips. She was thankful that Jareth was not lamenting having lost Vanity. He was willing to give life as a goblin a chance, and she was, in turn, fully willing to share every last minute of her own goblin existence alongside him. Her hand went to the ring…

…but she stopped just before touching it.

"You didn't tamper with this ring, did you?" Zahra warily asked.

"Not at all!" Jareth quickly answered. "Honestly!"

"I mean, I _know _you, Jareth." Zahra continued. "Nothing is ever what it seems with…"

Jareth sighed. "_Zahra!_"

The Goblin Queen then giggled as she took the ring. "Oh, Jareth…_lighten up!_" She then pulled the Goblin King to his feet. "Of _course _I'll marry you!"

A cheer went up from the goblins, and all of Zahra's friends. Ambrosius barked happily as Jareth and Zahra locked in a tight, loving embrace, and then locked their goblin lips together in a long, passionate kiss.

Hagatha, standing nearby, couldn't stop crying over this moment, but her loud bawling was drowned out by all the cheering.

Among the goblins that had survived the fall of the Castle was Flavia, and she made her way through the crowds of cheering goblins to stand before Jareth and Zahra. She then turned to the crowd.

"Long live the King and Queen of the Labyrinth!" She then cried out, exuberantly.

"HAIL, JARETH! HAIL, ZAHRA!" They all cried out. Stave beamed as he gazed upon Zahra and Jareth, who turned to the chanting goblins with shark-toothed smiles on their green faces.

A thought occurred to Zahra as they acknowledged the cheering goblin menagerie. "I suppose you're going to make them all repair the damage to the Castle?" She confided to Jareth.

"Every one of them." Jareth confided back. "Day and night. No breaks."

"I won't say anything." Zahra assured, with an amused smile.

"You won't _do _anything, either." Jareth noted. "Once we are married, we're going to be too busy setting up a little caper of our own."

"A caper, eh?" Zahra mused. "Sounds like my kind of honeymoon!"

* * *

An escort of dwarves brought Hoggle back into Seelie territory the following morning, and rode him all the way to one of the beautiful mountain ranges, where a grand meeting of all the dwarven houses and regiments were to gather, all of them called together by the Lord Fjord.

The dwarf Lord had wanted to keep Hoggle's presence a secret, and so he was confined to the shadows around the great hall, where a _huge _crowd of Hoggle's kin were doing the kinds of things he had permanently sworn off: drinking and rough-housing.

The menagerie, however, was silenced as Praed, Fjord's advisor, called out his elaborate introduction, and a deafening blast of cheering met the Lord Fjord as he came out to address his kin.

And Hoggle listened to every word of Fjord's speech. Words he never imagined the dwarf Lord would bring up the nerve to say in front of just about each and every single dwarf that lived and breathed among the Seelie. He fully admitted that he was in the wrong in his condemnation of the one dwarf who wanted to set himself apart from the typical dwarven way of living. Upon the proclamation of the Lord Fjord, he would no longer feel ashamed of a brother dwarf managing a living as a humble gardener. No longer would a dwarf like Hoggle be judged harshly, for it was Hoggle who had prevailed over a superior enemy using a means other than the almighty axe: tactics and charisma.

At that moment, Hoggle was finally called out.

The dwarf expected to hear catcalls and insults. He figured he would be dodging debris cast upon him. He expected food and drink to be thrown. He had, after all, heard silence from the crowd during Fjord's speech. He didn't know what to make of it.

But then, as Hoggle fought through his shyness and scanned the murmuring crowd, the Lord Fjord spoke once more.

"From this day forth, upon me word of authority, any dwarf…be he man, woman, or child…finding himself or herself upon the grounds of the Labyrinth, shall henceforth regard our brother Hoggle as a rightful Lord among dwarves!"

Hoggle's jaw dropped. He already had his wish fulfilled in Fjord's public apology, but he never expected _this!_

Fjord turned to Hoggle, placing a hand upon his shoulder. "By me word of honor, Hoggle, I do bestow upon thee a most deserved title! LORD…OF THE LABYRINTH!"

Fjord raised his mighty axe high upon this proclamation, and now it was Hoggle who was the recipient of a deafening roar of approval. Weapons were banged upon the stone floors as the entire chamber of dwarves chanted Hoggle's name.

The Lord Fjord then presented Hoggle with a beautifully-crafted axe. Upon the blade was etched a sigil. A circle, within which was rendered a series of labyrinthine passages.

Hoggle, now the _Lord_ Hoggle, was beyond overwhelmed. He figured he'd use this axe to cut down a few trees. He never gave any thought to using it in battle, but he felt it would certainly serve him well if he were ever forced to defend himself for whatever reason.

With a slight smile on his face, the new dwarven Lord raised his new axe high in salutation, and another blast of cheers resounded. Of all the times he had been among the dwarves, this was undoubtedly the happiest moment in his entire life thus far.

He could hardly wait to tell his friends about it back on the Labyrinth grounds.

* * *

Hoggle had made it back in time to pay witness to the wedding ceremony between the King and Queen of the Labyrinth. It was, after all, important for Hoggle to do so. Jareth wanted to honor Zahra's wish for a wedding similar to the kinds of ceremonies performed in the world above.

It was, of course, modified to suit goblin tastes and beliefs.

Hoggle, however, had been selected to serve as the "Best Man", while Flavia was ordained the Maid of Honor…or in the case of this particular ceremony, the Servant of Honor.

By the ceremony's end, Jareth and Zahra were lifemates, bound to each other for the rest of their goblin lives. All of Zahra's friends were naturally in attendance, including Stave, who continued to wear his identity as Steven T. Graves.

Stave, however, had a very special present for the Goblin Queen, and he could hardly wait to confront her with it.

The reception was just about the wildest and perhaps the most hazardous party ever celebrated by the goblin menagerie in the labyrinth. Not only were goblins drinking the thick, intoxicating goblin brew, they were practically bathing and spraying each other with it.

Jareth and Zahra were a bit more careful in their consumption of the brew, taking it in cautious sips as the party continued to get more and more crazy.

Through the crowds, she saw Stave signal to her. With a nod of acknowledgement, Zahra made her way through the wild revelers and moved outside of the party area. She figured Stave wanted to bid Zahra farewell and get back to Seelie territory so he could resume his duties as an agent of the Iron Shadow.

Stave brought the Goblin Queen to an area where they could be alone, although a part of her wondered if this was wise. Stave was, after all, an agent of the Iron Shadow, and based on what Hoggle had told her, they always waited for the right moment to strike.

She tried not to let her wariness show, however, as Stave turned to her.

"Well, Zahra…you certainly have come a long way from our last therapy session, eh?" Stave mused, smiling.

Zahra giggled. "That's an understatement and a half."

"How are you feeling?" Stave then asked. "I mean…are you getting used to being, well, what you've become?"

Zahra looked down thoughtfully. "I feel like I've become part of a dream. A really crazy dream." She looked back up at Stave. "I feel young again, too."

Stave nodded slowly, back in therapist mode for the moment. "What about the world above, Zahra? Do you miss it?"

Zahra was quiet for a long moment at this question, but she managed an answer. "I don't think I can go back up there anymore. No matter what I am. Not to go back to my normal life, anyway. I'll miss reading stories to kids, but…well…maybe someday I can tell Cerenede a story or two."

Stave smiled. "Sounds nice. I think she'd like that."

Zahra arched a brow. "This is starting to sound like another therapy session."

Stave chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't charge you…but that's not the reason I called you aside, Zahra. You see…as you might expect, I can relate to being, well, turned into something different. I wanted to know how you felt about it. The last time I talked to you, after all, you were…well…what you used to be."

Zahra nodded. "I remember. You told me you were turned into an an…abomination?"

Stave nodded.

"Did you want to show me your natural form, Stave?"

Stave once again nodded. "Although I should warn you…there is more to my natural appearance than you think. Are you ready?"

Zahra nodded. "Go ahead, Stave."

The Iron Shadow agent then reached over to the back of his neck, to where a small golden gem housing was hidden beneath an illusionary veil of human skin. From this housing, he plucked out the enchanted ruby which maintained the visage of Steven Graves, and this particular visage began to fade.

It was replaced by a younger-looking and much more handsome man. Long velvet hair cascaded down in waves around a face with arched eyebrows, fair skin, and long, angled ears that pointed straight up, in the manner of the Sidhe.

This person's eyes, however, remained human. It was the only thing that set him apart from being a full Sidhe.

"Angaron did this to me, Zahra." The oddly familiar-looking Sidhe man revealed. "He tried to hurt me, just as he tried to hurt you…but you should know that I haven't stopped thinking about you. After you had rescued me from Jareth twenty years ago, I had wanted to be able to return the favor."

Zahra froze, hoping this wasn't a nasty trick designed to distract her long enough for the Iron Shadow agent to strike…but he never went for a blade at all.

Nor did Zahra suspect that he was lying.

"I…I don't _believe _it!" Zahra's voice shook. "_Toby?_"

"It really _is _him, Zahra." Hoggle confirmed as he joined the reunited family members, both of them shedding tears of joy. "When I found out, I couldn't believe it either!"

Zahra rushed forward as Toby lowered to his knees, holding his arms out to accept the goblin's warm, happy embrace. "You're no abomination, Toby…" Zahra remarked through her sobs. "…you look so…so…"

"Different?" Toby mused, rubbing gently at his half-sister's back.

Zahra pulled away to look into Toby's eyes, smiling through her tears. "_Beautiful!_"

Smiling, Hoggle returned to the reception revelries, wanting to give the reunited half-siblings time to themselves.

Zahra then looked down in regret. "I must seem really _ugly _to you…I deserve it…it was my fault you were kidnapped in the first place…"

"Zahra, don't say that! You _rescued _me, remember? _Twice! _You released me from those chains, and you used those crystals of yours to generate that illusion!"

The Goblin Queen nodded. "And then you rescued me right back. You saved me from Angaron. Twice. I remember your voice warning me that he was about to put that collar around my neck."

"Yet, I still don't feel like I've done enough." Toby observed. "I wish there was something else I could do for you."

Zahra was about to ease her half-brother's concern, but then she remembered Jareth's desire for a post-marriage caper. "Well, actually…are you in a rush to get back to Seelie grounds? I could use your help with, well…it's a bit complicated…"

Toby, however, sounded entirely resolute. "I don't care _what _it is, Zahra." He then sat on the ground in front of the Goblin Queen. "Count me in."


	35. Chapter 35: The Beautiful Human

It had been three days and nights since the Lady Vestrie had taken Vanity from Jareth, and the Goblin King had never made any attempt to reclaim it. She checked the area in her mansion where she had placed it, just to be sure it was still there. She even touched it, just to make sure it had not been replaced by an illusion. Jareth, be he goblin or handsome Prince, was still very much the crafty one.

On the same token, Vestrie had also checked up on Comeliness, the purple-streaked companion piece Angaron had made for her. The Sidhe noblewoman's only remaining servant boy got the impression that ever since she had returned from that day on the Labyrinth grounds, she had been behaving in a somewhat paranoid and jumpy manner.

The stable boy also could not help but notice that Vestrie's new unicorn, Bethany, looked and behaved in a considerably lamenting manner. There was no sense of spirit to this beautiful unicorn. Most of the cherished beasts had a sense of pride and dignity. This one was disturbingly and consistently quiet and crestfallen.

He nevertheless cared for the creature as he had always done with unicorns, although he found it difficult to get her to eat the kinds of things unicorns were typically fed. Why was it, he wondered, that this one seemed to want to starve herself to death? She at least drank the water he presented for her, but he knew that even the wondrous unicorns needed to eat.

She didn't even respond to any notion of being allowed to run free within the nearby fleet-footed fields. Bethany just stayed inside her stable, and Vestrie seemed to ignore her entirely.

In her mind, she struggled to remember who she really was, but it was becoming difficult in the days she had remained in this form. She was the only unicorn in the stable, too. There were no other unicorns to communicate with. No way she could learn anything about unicorn society. She had been kidnapped, transformed, and kept as a vanity piece, neglected and alone when Vestrie did not need her.

This evening, however, was different, for the Lady Vestrie once again approached her stable wearing another beautiful, gauzy dress, looking as if she had just returned from another of her social gatherings. The stable boy was alongside her, and Vestrie was in the midst of a conversation with him.

"...and I require _two _unicorns to be able to use my Chariot. Hopefully, this will be my last trip to the world above, and the last time I will need to make a unicorn out of a human. I just have to be sure that the boy I choose won't be as..." She gestured irritably to Bethany. "..._moody _as this one. Now get her ready to ride while I prepare another little..."

From inside the mansion, a distinct and obnoxious yell preceded a flash and a loud explosion. Vestrie raced back to the mansion, her eyes locked on her lavish and now smoking home just as a black-gloved hand covered the stable boy's mouth from behind.

She recognized the yelling sounds to be the pyrokinetic Fire Gang, and they continued to dance and carouse, setting various items ablaze. But they weren't the only ones trying to make a mess of things. Goblins were among them, breaking furniture apart and having wild pillow fights with the soft cushions of the intricately-conjured chairs and couches.

Vestrie's first instinct was to extinguish any and all fires that had been inflicted on the mansion, and with an arcane word and the wave of a hand with three fingers extended, she was able to accomplish this.

"Hey! Where'd da lights go..." the Firey then spotted the Lady Vestrie frowning upon her. "...uh, oh..."

"Eh, it don't mattah. Da bosses got what's dey came for." A robed goblin remarked. "Let's am-scray!"

This goblin clapped his hands loudly above his green head. The goblins and the Fire Gang suddenly vanished before Vestrie could lash out with a shot of vengeful, destructive magic.

But then Vestrie ran over to where she had kept Vanity.

It was _gone._

She then raced over to where she had placed its companion piece, Comeliness...

...and then found herself face to face, once again, with Zahra. In her right hand was Comeliness.

The Goblin Queen stared upon her with a steadfast gaze as she spoke. "Give me the child."

Vestrie frowned at this, but then realized she was referring to Bethany. "Not a chance, snitling." Vestrie then raised a hand, which began to glow. "I'd sooner rend your ugly green flesh from your..."

The Sidhe noblewoman was then grabbed from behind by a slender-bodied man in black robes, and in his hand...the tip dangerously close to her throat...was an Iron Winter Blade.

"Don't even _think _about it." Toby growled.

Vestrie slowly lowered her hand.

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered..." Zahra began to walk out of the room, towards the mansion exit. "...I have fought my way to your mansion, far beyond the Goblin City, to take back a child you have stolen."

"You'll _regret _this, _snitling!_" Vestrie hissed in disgust. Toby carefully maneuvered the neutralized Sidhe noblewoman so that she remained in front of Zahra as she spoke. Toby had wanted the blond temptress to be able to see the Goblin Queen bring Comeliness to the top of her head.

And as Zahra spoke her next words, she saw Jareth...with Vanity back on his head, the handsome Prince restored...regard her with a sly grin, and behind him was Bethany, restored to her human form.

He also presented that strange gesture Stave once gave him...the finger...to the Lady Vestrie. He didn't know what it meant, but he at least surmised it was meant to be derogatory.

"For my will is strong..." Comeliness was then placed on Zahra's head, its enchantment already making Zahra taller, her goblin ears shrinking, her skin quickly becoming more human than goblin. "...and my kingdom as great..."

"No! TAKE THAT THING OFF!" Vestrie hollered. "IT'S _MINE!_ This is _NOT FAIR!_"

Zahra brought her head up, smiling. The face, although none could remember the name, was that of Sarah Williams once more as she spoke her final words.

"You have no power over me."

"_NNOOOOOOOO__!_" Vestrie hollered furiously as Zahra ran to where Jezebel was waiting. Jareth and Bethany had already mounted Aegeas as the two unicorns dashed away from the mansion as fast as they could.

"Well!" Jezebel mentalized to Aegeas. "_That _was strangely satisfying."

"They may not think too highly of you if you ever come back to Seelie territory, you know." Aegeas reminded.

"Well, then I guess I'd better stay within the labyrinth grounds, eh?" Jezebel mused as both unicorns, and their mounts, disappeared into the distance.

Although there was not much she could do with a very, very dangerous blade perilously near her throat, Vestrie could hardly contain her rage as she spoke.

"You'll always be an abomination." She growled. "Just like your _half-sister!_"

"And you'll always be a disgrace to the Sidhe." Toby calmly countered.

The blade was then pulled safely away, and the agent of the Iron Shadow made a very fast getaway before Vestrie could call upon her Sidhe sorcery to attack him.

And all the defeated Lady Vestrie could do was scream to the skies, as loud as she could, in vengeful rage.

When she was a little more clear-headed, Vestrie did actually try to appeal to the High Chamberlain regarding this latest caper...

...and the High Chamberlain dutifully informed her, in a somewhat dismissive tone, that he would look into it.

The lovely music Erika was playing for him, after all, was far more important to the High Chamberlain.

* * *

Jareth and Zahra...once again in their goblin forms...laughed in wild satisfaction as they watched Vestrie make her appeal to the High Chamberlain, only to be casually dismissed. They had watched that entire scene over and over, both of them buzzed by the thick goblin brew they had been drinking, using the Tapestry of Fae Souls. Jareth had also shown her the ritual he had performed, prior to his capture, that effectively attuned his crystal foci to the whims of Zahra.

Once that had played out, however, they both wanted to watch Vestrie's humiliation once more.

"I must say, precious..." Jareth mused. "...that entire caper did play out quite brilliantly, wouldn't you say?"

"Mmmm...I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of that witch." Zahra replied, draining her flagon of goblin brew.

"No doubt, my Queen." Jareth took in a tilt of his own brew from his own jewel-encrusted flagon, glancing upon the remaining brew. "I used to _hate _this stuff. I have to admit, though...after a few cups, it's not that bad."

Zahra nodded, smiling, gazing upon Jareth's eyes lovingly. "Fit for a King and Queen of goblins."

Jareth planted a lingering kiss upon Zahra's goblin lips. "Indeed." He then gestured for the nearby servant, Flavia, to close the Tapestry, and she sweetly complied with this wish.

Zahra let out a long sigh, and then lazily cuddled up close to the Goblin King, feeling quite tired. "Sing me to sleep, my King."

Jareth smiled, placing a green arm around his wife's shoulders. Before they had seen the triumph of their successful caper, Zahra wanted to have the Tapestry allow them to see Jareth sing that tune she had previously watched him serenade to no one in particular, and he decided to translate his current feelings into a more complete version of that older melody...

_She said her right words, Goblin King_

_Play your game and do your thing_

_You never know, this girl you meet_

_Through unnumbered hardships, she'll make you complete_

Zahra smiled wide, happy tears forming in her eyes, as Jareth continued to sing.

_Not once, but twice, a stroke of fate_

_my pride defied, for her will was great_

_Judged and denied her world above,_

_She fought and won my heart and my love_

_And all it took...was my true face_

_No longer will I hide what I truly am_

_Everywhere, everytime...and every place..._

_Never again shall I be a sham_

_Just for your love...your human love..._

_...this beautiful human's love._

Zahra began snoring loudly. Smiling, Jareth picked her up and made his way out of the Tapestry room. He and Flavia shushed wily goblins as he carried his sleeping wife to his private quarters. A full moon cast its rays into the room from the balcony area, surrounded by the bright stars of an evening sky.

A new painting had replaced the old one near the bed, although the old painting of the solitary Jareth had been placed on another wall. The new artistic rendering was, of course, of the Goblin King and his wife, the Goblin Queen, both of them in royal garb and wearing their respective crowns. Protected by invisible magic fields were two stands on either side of the bed. Vanity was on one side, and Comeliness was on the other.

Zahra remained asleep in Jareth's arms as he placed her upon the bed, which looked quite a bit smaller now, and he settled in next to her. Stroking at her strands of raven-black hair, he whispered into her ear.

"Sweet dreams, beautiful human."

Jareth then made himself comfortable upon the bed and slowly closed his eyes. As he did, Zahra slowly placed an arm around Jareth and snuggled into him.

And although goblins were habitually loud and boisterous by nature, they respected their King and Queen enough to give them the peace and quiet they both deserved.

Some of them, however, wondered what kind of ruler this new Goblin Queen would be, and if she would adopt any of the King's amusing little habits.

On this, only time would tell.

* * *

**Two months later...**

Ramona Hobson could hardly believe the wild stories Bethany Ryder was spreading around school following her mysterious return. The scrawny nerd, who like everyone else had believed had disappeared without a trace, was going on and on about being taken away to a magical land and turned into a unicorn. _Unicorns _again! It was the kind of ammunition Ramona needed to resume her relentless bullying. She could start calling her names like "horny" and "horseface" just to see the look on her pathetic face.

As was the case with most bullies, they always take their frustrations out on everyone around them because their own lives tend to be miserable, and Ramona's was no exception. She _hated _being the only girl in a house full of boys, one of which had also mysteriously disappeared, but never returned. Authorities wondered if all of the more recent disappearances...including Bethany's...were related to not only Billy, but that of Sarah Williams and Agatha Caine.

Billy's disappearance hardly affected Ramona, though...she never liked Billy very much anyway.

But it was her mother's decision to bring another child into the family, and since there were no other girls to properly look after her, it fell to Ramona to babysit this screaming brat. Cries of unfairness were ignored, and her two remaining brothers...both of them older than her...were quick to tease _her _about being forced to look after the child while her parents went out.

The baby...whose name was Wally...had been screaming hungrily once she was left all alone, and her frustration over her situation rose. Where was the damn milk bottle?

The screaming had finally taxed her patience as she began to look around, and she ran over to the crying boy. "You're such a...such a _goblin!_" She growled. "If only I could wish you away so you could be with your own kind, you little..."

She finally spotted the milk bottle. Apparently, it had dropped to the floor outside the baby's room and had rolled outside the door. It was also half-full of milk. Sighing, she walked over to retrieve it.

But as she reached down to grab the bottle, the baby's bawling suddenly silenced.

She quickly turned back to the room, and went straight for the sweet white crib Wally was crying in.

He was _gone._

Ramona's eyes went wide. First Billy, and now _Wally? _And on _her watch?_ Not good at all!

It was more for the sake of her not getting a scolding from her parents that Ramona began to look all over the house for the now-missing child...but it wasn't until she went back into the baby's room that she finally spotted Wally, who was finally quiet, and nursing from an exposed breast.

And that breast belonged to a fair-skinned human woman in some manner of wild Renaissance-style garb, with a head of long, purple-streaked raven black hair. The woman slowly and tenderly stroked at Wally's early growths of hair as she fed him.

Ramona was speechless at the sight of the woman. Her mouth hung open.

Zahra finally looked up to the shocked young girl, a sly smile on the intruder's purple-painted lips, which sparkled in the room's lights.

"Go on, Ramona." the Goblin Queen calmly remarked. "Say your right words."

**~ THE END ~**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S AFTERWORD**

**Hope you all enjoyed it...and if you didn't? I offer my apologies, and hope the next contribution I make ****will be an improvement in some way. :)**

**I would like to close here with an explanatory note to those who were a bit thrown by the plot twist involving Jareth being an actual goblin, and not a Fae Prince who was ordained by circumstance to rule over his obnoxious little charges: the conceptualization of my story can actually be credited, in part, to the initial intentions of ****_Labyrinth _****screenwriter(and ****_Monty Python_**** confederate) Terry Jones. His original ****_Labyrinth _****script culminates with a fight between Sarah and Jareth in which Sarah kicks at him to the point where Jareth reverts to his true form: that of a goblin, no different from his charges. It was requested script alterations that led to the ending shown in the finished film. However, after having seen the fantastic plot twist that made the film adaptation of author William Stieg's fairy tale ****_Shrek_****(the ****_first _****film, not its sequels!) so memorable, I decided to apply it...along with its don't-judge-a-book-by-its-cover moral...to this story, while at the same time honoring the original vision Jones had for his Goblin King(minus the beatdown, of course). Just because Jareth and Sarah have both become goblins doesn't mean they can't be happy, after all!**

**Although they finished out the story in this manner, it is of course still possible for them to assume the forms of David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly if they so wished. :)**

**I welcome your questions, full reviews and/or comments(and will answer questions via PMs), but for the moment, I am stepping away from Jim Henson's Labyrinth in favor of the Yellow Brick Road, so to speak. Until then, thanks for your support of my first story!**

**Respectfully,**

**The Wandering Talespinner**


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